Club Vampyr
by Eternal Contradiction
Summary: Companions of the Night: Kerry has dealt with Nelle's death, Michel's violent and occasionally passionate return, and now becoming a pawn in a madman's deadly game. Can she cope with the fact that Michel killed her best friend? KM :ch24:
1. Chapter 1

_Club Vampyr_

Chapter 1

"I believe we've run out of time today. I'll continue next lecture with 'mongrelization' in Salman Rushdie's _The Prophet's Hair_." The professor gathered his lecture notes, organizing them with a faint click on the podium. He let out an exhausted sigh, slightly blushing as the microphone picked up the noise and broadcasted it throughout the room. Some students showed amusement, but most echoed the relief to be finished for the week. The prof quickly turned off the mic before turning to the first student who had questions or comments about the lecture.

Kerry sat up from an uncomfortable slouch, staring at her watch. She figured the professor had nothing to complain about. If he wanted to get out of the room, he should stop finishing his lectures five minutes late. Snapping her laptop closed on her lap, she slightly stretched and reached for the bag on her left.

Lugging around her computer was heavy, but her bookbag hardly ever got as back-breakingly burdensome as it did in high school. Quickly, she swung the straps over her shoulders in a familiar move she had perfected back in grade one, climbing the stairs out of the lecture hall. Some of her fellow students were discussing class notes, but most were chatting happily about their weekend plans. The classroom had been darkened for overhead notes and naps, and the moment Kerry stepped out of the exit she had to squint against the harsh sun. Carefully, she covered her sensitive eyes with sunglasses and sauntered down the stairs and onto the sidewalk.

"Ker!" A male voice called from behind her. She didn't bother stopping, nor turning around. Within seconds Nathaniel caught up with her, easily matching his pace with hers. "It's almost as if you don't care, Ker." His lips curled slightly at his own bad pun.

Kerry glanced over, making sure her face looked as blankly as she could make it. She was about to reply with her own sarcastic remark, when she noticed his blue hair. Last night's styling gel still kept the front spikes in place, but the back of his head was flat from sleeping and a few woeful points were bent at awkward angles. She couldn't help but grin. "Hard night?"

"Sometimes hard, sometimes soft, but mostly in between." He leered mockingly at her, patting one of the dark blue spears poking out of his scalp. "The hair is my new 'do."

Kerry snorted, turning a corner towards her apartment. She usually didn't make friends with characters like him, but he lived next door and occasionally boinked her roommate. "More like a don't," she murmured.

"Come on. Don't be such a square." One thing about Nathaniel, he loved using slang from any decade. He practically skipped along the sidewalk, his jeans almost falling from where they were belted around his knees. He casually looked over at her. "Nellicious and I are going to that new vampire club tonight. Wanna come?"

Kerry glanced at him sharply. "You shouldn't encourage her!" It was a standing feud between Kerry and her best friend. When Kerry had gone missing a few years back and it had been reported as an attack from vampire hunters gone astray, Nelle had immediately jumped on the vampire-wannabe bandwagon. "If she keeps going to these places and offering herself up on a silver platter, she could get hurt."

"Come on, chica," Nathaniel hitched his pants up. "We both know vampires aren't real. You're the one who keeps saying so. Me," he shrugged, "I don't care either way."

"This… club is just a blatant con for people like her. Vampires would never be déclassé enough to set foot inside such a tourist trap." Kerry paused for a second. "If they weren't a myth." She turned, looking up at him sharply. "One of these times, she'll go and find someone who plays the game better than she does, who would love to take her home and make her another notch on their wall. Do you realize the danger she's in?" Kerry practically screamed the last part at the man across from her. Last month, Nelle had come closer than she realized to being coffinbait. Since then, Kerry had been terrified for her friend.

Nathaniel lost the constant amused gleam in his eye, solemnly staring at her. Suddenly, he sharply grabbed her arm, angrily pulling her towards him. "Better than you do. Why do you think I asked you to come? To be pretty?" He let go of her, fury dissipating from his body language as he attempted to run his hands through his hair. Mildly cursing the hair gel, he settled for stroking one of the spikes in a suggestive motion. "Truthfully, I'm having trouble keeping an eye on her now."

Kerry sighed. She hated going into busy clubs and mingling in the sweaty, overheated air. She turned away and continued walking. When they reached the entrance to the apartment building, she finally gave her answer. "Yeah. I'll come."

"Great." Nathaniel was back to hopping along like an excited kangaroo. "I've got this awesome vest that would look amazing on you." He turned his head and grinned at her.

"Why not Nelle?" She wasn't sure what she thought of the notion of sharing clothing with a guy. Either she looked butch, or Nathaniel was very effeminate. Since she'd seen him in tighter clothes than his look today, she knew it was the latter. He was an incredibly pretty guy.

"Too thin. But you, man, you've got cuuurves." He leered at her. Nathaniel was the only male she would allow to get away with that. Male who was still breathing that is.

Kerry opened the front door to their building and waited for him to go in ahead of her. He barely even noticed the reversal in rolls, proving that chivalry really was dead. The moment he was through the door, she deliberately stepped on the back of his pants. He almost stumbled as the thick material of his jeans pooled around his ankles.

"Hey!" He grumbled, quickly pulling up his pants and flashing her a nice scene of his silky boxer-clad bottom.

"People may not have been to London or France, but they've already seen your underpants." As far as snark went, that wasn't on the top of her list of repartee.

He considered it for a moment. He usually had a habit of going to class in his boxers during the warmer months. In fact, she'd met him while he was walking down the apartment building hallway wearing a bright red pair and one sock. To this day he still hadn't explained where the other sock went. "True." They both piled into the elevator, exaggeratingly trying to elbow one another out of the way.

"Besides." She was smiling as she pressed the elevator button. "You called me fat."

The elevator dinged open. Nathaniel lost another spike as it crumbled against the side of the door. "No. You look normal…"

"Now you're accusing me of being ordinary!" She grinned teasingly as she pulled out the key to her apartment.

"Ordinary my ass." Nathaniel playfully tried to swat her bottom. Kerry dodged out of the way, unsure whether to be upset or amused.

The door swung open before Kerry could insert her key, and out bound Nelle. She already had her dark brown hair temporarily tinted black and painfully straightened so flat it look like she rolled it between a newspaper press. "Nate!" She exclaimed, pushing by Kerry and jumping at her sometimes-boyfriend.

Nate smiled down at her, not even bothering to correct the unwelcome shortening of his name. Usually, if anyone else called him by a nickname, he'd grumble and growl and insist on being called Nathaniel. Kerry had actually seen him punch someone who called him Nat. She had made a note to always make the effort to say the extra syllables, but Nelle always got away with Nate.

Kerry figured it must be love. "See ya, Nate." She called, closing the door on them before he could glare at her. Kicking off her shoes, she entered the small kitchen and frowned at the typical mess of dirty dishes on the counter. Ignoring them, as usual, she opened the fridge and grabbed an apple. If she was going to fit into tight, uncomfortable club-wear, she wouldn't be able to eat a huge supper tonight.

She balanced her bookbag on the edge of the kitchen table and hauled out her laptop. Dropping the bag, she carefully placed the computer on the table and opened it. As Windows was booting up, she grabbed her bag and threw it into her bedroom. Mentally rolling her eyes at herself, Kerry opened her closet and rummaged through her clothes thoughtfully. Generally, she tried to avoid clothes that appeared to belong to the local S and M society or the Goths. It wasn't a biasness against them, only a need to offset Nelle's regular gloomy look. Kerry liked her clothes to have a bit of color. The greens, blues and pinks were out staring back at her from their hangers were out, but she might be able to do something with the few red clothes she possessed.

She just might have to rely on Nathaniel's vest. It was a scary thought. She would borrow Nelle's clothes, but her best friend was almost anorexically thin. The last time she had tried to wear a dress of Nelle's, she had gotten stuck in it. Kerry prided herself on her weight, but she Nelle still managed to make her feel like going on a diet.

Kerry narrowed her eyes and turned from the closet. No, there really wasn't anything there. Why did Nelle have to be such a freak-lover. Who loves vampires anyway?

Yeah, she thought that was kind of like the zebra calling the cow white too.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, pulling on the skin under her eyes. Her eyes looked tired. Kerry took a bite of her apple and smiled halfheartedly at her image. To her own eyes, her smile was more of a grimace. It took a lot more than it used to in order to get a genuine smile out of her these days. Was that Michel's fault? Was that the guilt she felt for taking a murder's life? Was it just a delayed reaction from missing her family? She turned and headed back to her computer. It was only around five, and the earliest they ever left to go out was nine. There was really no point turning up at a club before eight unless you worked there.

Kerry grinned as she accessed the email she received from her dad. Ian was fine and looking forward to his eighth birthday party. Dad was dating someone new, and the three of them had gone on a picnic the other day. It was good, Kerry thought, that dad had someone who didn't have a pesky sun allergy.

It seemed her life always revolved around the shadow of vampirism. She couldn't get away now that she knew the truth. She knew a dangerous secret about the world around her, and it opened her eyes, caused her to think differently, and made her a little less naïve about every occurrence in her life. Then there were her friends, who tended to remind her whether they knew it or not. Nelle wanted to be a vampire and Nathaniel said stuff like 'so, vampire hunters eh? If you were a vampire you woulda killed their ass. No wait, you did.' That wasn't so funny.

Kerry sent a quick email back, telling her dad that she was going out with friends tonight and would call tomorrow. Afterwards she checked her favorite sites and chatted with friends on MSN. She needed a few normal hours in her life if she was going to make it through even a second of the vampire scene.

"Kerry!" Nelle rushed in around seven, hair mussed and cheeks flushed. "I've got to do my hair again." She wailed, flinging a plastic bag towards her roommate and scurrying to her bedroom. "Natey sent you something."

"I'm surprised he remembered between all the sex." Kerry murmured, eyeing the bag as if it were contaminated with things she didn't even want to think of.

"What?" Nelle called. "I can't hear you. My ears must still be ringing."

Kerry smirked. She adored Nelle. Honestly. The girl could just be trying sometimes.

The bag sat on the floor, looking innocent. It didn't seem to scream 'I screwed your roommate and then touched this plastic', but you never knew with these things. Kerry tried to ignore the plastic bag, but her eyes kept shifting towards it. She was curious. With a show of sheer willpower, she turned back to her computer and continued chatting. Ok, she was really just avoiding the necessity of facing the contents. Did she really need to wear a costume in order to fit in with the patrons of the club?

Yep. Call it empowerment through being sexy, or call it Kerry hoping it was disguise enough so that if she met anyone she knew they wouldn't recognize her, but there was no way she was going to stand out by dressing in jeans.

Nelle dashed into the bathroom screaming something about shampoo.

Kerry nudged the bag out of her direct line of sight.

Nelle dove out of the bathroom, hair dripping down her back.

Kerry turned on Winamp, listening to the crappy pop music she had on the computer. Somehow, a Hanson song had worked its way into her playlist. That had to be scarier than anything she encountered tonight. Right?

Nathaniel sauntered in the door, not bothering to knock or remove his shoes. He was wearing clompy black boots that looked too unscuffed to be used often. "Hiking boots?" She queried, not really caring.

He looked disgusted at the thought. "I'm wearing this red thing and black leather pants and all you comment on is the boots?"

Kerry glanced at the 'red thing' and had to look away before she insulted him by laughing. He was painted into a sheer red tank top with belts strapped around it at intervals, emphasizing his narrow waist and broader shoulders. His blue hair was falling softly over his eyes. She wasn't sure whether he was adorable or stupid looking. Maybe both.

"Why aren't you dressed yet? We're going to Mickey D's before the club." Nathaniel raised one of his brown eyebrows, looking amused as if he knew the answer to his question.

Kerry looked at the time on the screen of her computer. It was almost eight. "Gimme a minute." She stood up and grabbed the bag from her feet.

"CareBear, it took me more than a minute to get ready. You can't possibly do it in less than ten."

Kerry ignored the CareBear comment, knowing he was getting her back for 'Nate.' Everyone had hated nicknames. "It'll take Belle more than that to get ready for the ball."

"You're mixing your Disney metaphors." He made shooing motions.

Kerry rolled her eyes and walked into her bedroom, firmly closing the door. She dumped the bag on her bed, pawing carefully through the cloth, fearing she'd poke herself with one of the metal spikes. God, she hadn't realized Nathaniel was this bizarre. Her eyes lit up when she found a shirt that matched one of her skirts. She grimaced when she realized it laced up in the front, but was feeling daring and mischievous enough to try. Wriggling into it, she promised herself that if she couldn't even fit into Nathaniel's clothes, she'd go on a diet. The laces tightened well enough until they reached her chest. Deliberately, she left it gape open. Eat your heart out Nelle and Britney Spears! After getting into the skirt and soaring high heels, she quickly applied eyeliner and a coat of lipstick. Popping her lips together, Kerry blew a kiss to herself and gathered her courage.

It was going to be a long night.

Opening the door, she tried to stalk out but her walking turned into the swaying saunter you can only get with heels. Nathaniel gaped, forgetting about the slice of cheese he had been eating. Bugger, raiding her fridge like that. Served him right if he choked. "Holy frig. You gave me a stiffy!"

Kerry blushed, trying to keep her eyes from wandering down to check. Nathaniel liked to make comments like that to embarrass her, but she never knew whether they were true or not. "I can't do this," she murmured, turning on her heel and almost tumbling.

"Nonsense. It's very Kerry. Bold. Beautiful. Contradictory." Nathaniel popped the last of his cheese chunk in his mouth and held it against his cheek as he talked.

Kerry felt her blush deepen. If this guy wasn't with Nelle, she might consider keeping him for herself. She was just managing to get a slightly flirty smile on her lips when a slight screech came from behind her. Kerry and Nathaniel both turned to stare at Nelle.

"You can't wear that." Nelle whispered frantically, brushing down the black satin of her completely gothic outfit. Kerry felt like rolling her eyes. Vampires did NOT dress like that, and she doubted many would be attracted to a girl who did. Except for an easy meal.

"What? These are new boots." Nathaniel replied, looking at his feet in confusion. Kerry was sure he was trying to hide a grin. He was deliberately pulling the attention to himself.

"Not you. You're perfect." The couple beamed at each other for a minute. "Kerry can't wear that outfit."

"Why not?" Kerry tried to look innocent. "Flouncy skirt. Slutty top. Hooker heels. If I'm not picked up for prostitution I'll be lucky."

"I'd pick her up." Nathaniel interjected helpfully.

Nelle glared at him before turning back to her friend. "But… it's white."

"Does it make me look fat?" Kerry continued to look innocent.

"White does that." Nathaniel, still playing the puzzled boyfriend, agreed. "But you pull it off wonderfully."

"Oh for… stop it you guys. I know I'm being silly." Nelle cut them off. "Kerry's going into a demon club looking like an angel, especially with that big cross necklace."

Kerry almost resented the term demon.

"No vampire is going to welcome her if she deliberately wears something to repel them."

Nathaniel slipped an arm around Nelle. "Kerry has always tried to ward off guys. Remember that time some drunk grabbed her ass and she knocked over his chair?"

"That was an accident!"

Nathaniel continued as if she hadn't interrupted him. "I think we should be thankful she's not dressed like a nun again." He clucked Nelle under the chin and quickly kissed her. "Besides. They might like her spunk."

Nelle visibly relaxed, turning in her boyfriend's arm to smile at her friend. "I'm sorry. I'm just nervous." She adjusted the skirt of her Morticia gown. "I've never been in a real vampire club before."

The club being 'real' was debatable. "Me neither." Kerry reached over and squeezed Nelle's other arm. "I'm sure it'll be a ton of fun."

* * *

©RelenaFanel04/28/2006

Hey everyone. So this is the first chapter of Club Vampyr, my newest Companions of the Night story. I wrote this chapter, and only this chapter, exactly a year ago. I'm not completely pleased with it, but the rest of the story is shaping up to be ok. Now, tell me, did I make Nelle annoying? It is difficult to portray Kerry's annoyance and fear for her friend in a first chapter without Nelle coming across as a total witch. As for Nathaniel, yes he is an original character. The only people we learned aboutin CotN who are inKer's life were her family and Nelle, so it is reasonable that she would have/make other friends.

Tell me your thoughts. Continue? Scrap it? Get off my butt and update To Lure a Dragon?


	2. Chapter 2

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 2_

* * *

Every visible surface of the club was as ebony and murky as a vampire's ethics. The floor seemed to suck the color right out of the people dancing on top of it. The only blatant color in the large room was blood-red satin trailing from the ceiling in spills of a bleeding wound. Light was dispersed throughout the room from candles, and it wasn't until a drunken patron accidentally upset one that Kerry realized they were actually electric. The atmosphere tried very hard not to show technology.

Kerry swirled her raspberry cosmo and watched the people crowding around her. She had known she would stand out wearing stark white, but that wasn't really the case. Everyone was in costume, trying to look like their idea of a stereotypical vampire. Most were dressed goth, but a few people had on authentic period costumes. The truth as Kerry knew it was that vampires wanted to blend in and not stand out like the poofter in pantaloons and black lace dresses. She shook her head, watching as a guy stalked across the floor in knee high boots and a long, fitted velvet jacket. He did pull it off, but she still resented the cliché.

"Nate had to go to the bathroom." Nelle practically screamed as she wedged between Kerry's stool and the next person over. Kerry almost jumped, pulling out of her perusal of the room as she turned to paste a fake smile on her face as Nelle kept talking. "He suggested I keep you company."

"Awesome!" Kerry said without enthusiasm. She let her friend think the emotion was lost in the loud, spooky music. If Kerry stood out in her white corset and short fairy-layered skirt, then Nelle looked like one in a hundred girls in the room. "Would you like a drink?"

"Sure." Nelle grabbed the cosmo out of Kerry's hand and drank half of it. "Nate and I were thinking of going into one of the privacy rooms out back. Rumour has it a real vamp will come and suck you if you pay the right price."

Kerry felt her stomach fall in terror. She couldn't take the blind hope radiating from her best friend. "Nelle…" She warned, closing her fingers over the hand Nelle had on the cosmo glass. "A vampire isn't going to turn you. ESPECIALLY if you've already been food once. Do you understand? You're going about this wrong!" Kerry spoke desperately, trying to connect with her friend. She hated saying anything to influence Nelle one way or another. At one time she herself had been convinced that she could not, would not, and should not become a vampire. She'd been so righteous in her conviction that she had lost something which mattered to her. She hadn't wanted to lose her life, but had lost a piece in part regardless. Nelle may be convinced that vampirism was the way to gain her life, the exact opposite as what Kerry had thought at first, but how was that really any different?

The extreme convictions were the same.

"You don't even believe in vampires! How would you know what they think?" Nelle must have seen some emotion flit across Kerry's face, for she stopped mid-tirade and stared sharply. Kerry realized she would have to tread softly around this area.

"Think about it," Kerry hurried on, trying to prove what she was expressing without divulging her own secrets. "Vampires must be tired of people falling at their feet and begging for immortality. They'd think you're a fool."

"No." Nelle slammed the martini glass back onto the bar. "You're the fool for not seeing the possibilities of immortality."

"I'd rather not die." Even as she said it, Kerry wondered if it was true. A piece of her winced at her choice of words, knowing she had handed Nelle the keys to winning the argument. Another part of her was so thankful to be alive, she wanted to go home and hug her little brother.

Nelle tossed her hair over her shoulder, a haughty gesture which belied the hurt she was feeling at the moment. "I'm dying anyway." She said simply, slipping back into the crowded dance floor. She immediately blended into the blackened atmosphere, and Kerry lost sight of her within seconds.

Crap, Kerry thought, feeling the tears well up in her eyes before she could control them. How could she flaunt her own life in front of her best friend? She blinked, watching as the candle lights blurred softly. That was the problem. Nelle was here in an attempt to live longer than another year or two. When Kerry was being completely honest with herself, she wished with all her heart that some vampire turned Nelle before her health started to rapidly decline. She wasn't sure if what Michel said about vampires staying in the same condition they were the moment they turned, but if that was the case then her best friend probably didn't have much time left. That's why Kerry had agreed to come to this stupid club. In the deepest recesses of her subconscious she hoped that Nelle was turned. Kerry wouldn't interfere.

Was that accessory to murder?

"What a drama queen," a male voice pronounced at Nelle's potent departure.

Kerry turned to face the man next to her. She tried glaring, but the tears still in her eyes ruined the threat. He got the drift anyway and muttered an apology. She nodded brusquely and tried to ignore him. The last thing she needed was to have someone attempt to pick her up in a vampire club. She had enough vampire-related worries to last her a life-time.

"Look," he spoke again, his voice suddenly crisp with a faux English accent. It fit him, being completely fake and all. He was older than most of the crowd, and dressed in a richer outfit of silk and leather. But beneath the shine, he was the same as all the other losers in this place. "I just wished to commend you on your clear outlook of vampires."

"It was a private conversation." Kerry smiled tightly, mentally banging her head against the bar for not realizing other people were listening. It was hard to hear anything in a setting like this, but the two of them were also yelling at each other. Now, she had to watch Nelle even closer in case one of the humans here who deluded themselves into thinking they were a vampire decided to target Nelle. There was probably a greater chance of that happening than an actual vampire attack.

"Again, I apologize. I mean not to be rude, but I endeavour to make amends." He smiled charmingly, letting her see overly large canine teeth. If anything, she should be immediately thinking he was a vampire, but she remained firm in her notion that he was human. "I just want to point out that not all vampires grow weary of those like your friend. They make charming… toys."

Kerry met his eyes. He looked sincere, but that could be a trick. "How do you know?"

"Because I'm a vampire." He answered, as if it were obvious. He looked slightly confused that she would ask such an unintelligent question. Unconsciously, or maybe completely intentionally, he rubbed his tongue over sharp incisors.

The only vampire she was familiar with would never have shared anything in this conversation with her. She grabbed her glass off the bar, and stood. "No, you aren't. But you pretend better than most." He didn't really have that vampire oomph. His eyes seemed a bit too real, skin too tanned, energy level too human. Kerry couldn't exactly place her finger on it, but there was definitely something non-vampiric about her seatmate. Wearily she moved away from her chair, casually circling the dance floor. Some dumbnut with a sense of humour had started playing The Monster Mash.

In her peripheral vision, Kerry could see Nelle and Nathaniel gyrating and grinding against each other. Nelle gave him a bright smile and threw her arms around Nathaniel's neck. Kerry smothered a grin as the two of them started slow dancing in the middle of the jumping tempo of the music. She needn't worry about her best friend if Nathaniel was there. Sometimes she wondered if he was the problem. Nelle had seemed content, well, more like resigned, to be pushing up daisies; but that was before she had fallen in love. For the moment, Kerry was just glad Nelle hadn't run off to do something wildly impulsive in the aftermath of their little disagreement. Moving away from her friends' line of sight, Kerry reflected on how weary she was of the whole situation.

How could she convince Nelle to cling to humanity if she wanted more than anything for her best friend to stay alive forever? How could Kerry point out the faults of Nelle's plan when she sometimes wished she had said yes to Michel?

She was starting to feel sorry for herself, Kerry mused, not quite sure what to do now. The edges of her tightly-laced shirt were digging into her fragile skin like a garrote. It was better to focus on her physical problems than dwell on depressing thoughts. Keeping an eye on Nelle was all well and good, as well as increasingly necessary, but Kerry was beginning to feel like the third wheel.

A group of people turned from the dance floor, pushing by her as if she were a support beam in the middle of the room. After being jolted twice, she decided to press forward aggressively instead of waiting for them to walk around her. Her shoulder jarred into a girl her own age, and Kerry felt a sickening fear coil in her stomach and push into the beating of her heart. Her mind screamed for her to flee. She looked at the girl, seeing her return the gaze. The other female turned away first, dismissing Kerry as a nobody.

Kerry finally managed to breathe. She had never felt terror like that before, let alone for no reason. All she wanted was to go home and curl under the blankets. Settling for slouching into an empty booth, she frowned down at the new, gleaming table and wondered if she had stayed in the club long enough. That was where Nathaniel found her half an hour later. Kerry only had to look at him to see the worry pinching his features and the concerned way he bit his bottom lip. She knew, before he yelled 'have you seen Nelle?' that her best friend was missing like they had feared.

A quieter, mellow love song came on and she was able to talk to Nathaniel without having a screaming competition. "The last time I saw her, she was dancing with you," she explained, quickly rising from the table. Swiftly scanning her eyes over the crowded dance floor, Kerry wondered if she'd be able to spot Nelle even if she were dancing. The answer was no.

"She said she was coming to find you. The last time she said that, she did go talk to you, so I assumed…" He broke off when Kerry raised her hand for silence.

"Did you check the dance floor?" Kerry didn't wait for him to respond, but immediately hurried towards the back rooms. She knew Nelle wasn't dancing. She could feel it from deep within her. Nelle was attempting to become a vampire despite all the disapproval she received from her friends. Kerry barely noticed the other patrons of the club as she weaved around them, barrelling towards the back as if nothing could stop her. The swinging doors snapped as she violently pushed through them, surprising a giggling couple swaying drunkenly on the opposite side. They toppled over as both Kerry and Nathaniel bolted through the doors.

The postern consisted of a long glass hallway filled with privacy chambers Kerry had only ever seen the likes of on television. The glass had chemicals running through it, so that when the door was closed, a charge made the walls opaque and when the door was open the room was as transparent as regular glass. There had to be about thirty rooms, some available, but most hiding small parties, private relationships, and at least one confused young girl searching for vampirism. Kerry paused, wondering what to do next. How would she find Nelle in all those rooms? She tried the nearest door and found it locked from the inside.

Behind her, Nathaniel cursed softly.

"What are we going to do?"

"Do you think the club would help us find her?"

"What if we threaten to sue?"

"What if we just start breaking walls?"

Kerry wasn't sure which of them had asked any of the questions; her heart was beating frantically with worry, and she felt overwhelm panicked. She felt as if she didn't do something soon, Nelle would not just lose her mortality, she would also lose her life completely. There had to be something she was missing. Some cue or clue she could use to save her friend.

"Call her name," Kerry murmured to the man beside her. "Tell her you want to join."

"Nelle?" Nathaniel coaxed, his voice oozing with sensual charm. It was amazing how he was able to keep the strain of worry in his voice to a minimum. "Let me join you."

As he was calling out, Kerry began to walk down the hallway. She didn't know what she was trying to detect, but hopefully some movement would give Nelle away. In one of the rooms to Kerry's right, there was a slight scuffle. Instead of the door opening like Kerry expected, there was silence for the briefest of moments.

"NATE!" A scream came from within the room Kerry was watching and she jumped in shock. She had not expected the overwhelming terror in Nelle's response. Her own skin crawled with fear as her eyes pinpointed the exact room Kerry's best friend was in.

"That one," Kerry pointed as Nathaniel tried opening the door. The lock held until he kicked the doorknob with all his might. The fragile glass broke with a harsh shatter as the whole door disintegrated and the wall became transparent once again. Kerry could now see two other people in the room with Nelle. One of them was trying to block the way so Nathaniel could not interfere, while another had Nelle cradled against her as she frantically tried to suck the weak girl dry. Kerry felt fear paralyse her movements, even as she watched in revulsion as the vampire worked at Nelle's blood. She knew it wouldn't be a pleasant sight, but she had never expected this level of violence. She barely had time to be amazed that Nelle had found real vampires after all.

People from other privacy rooms were trickling into the hallway to see what the disturbance was. Nathaniel jumped at the man barring the entrance. The move was either very brave or very foolish.

"Stop it," Kerry called out, finally breaking out of her shock and trying to squeeze past the two men at odds in the doorway. The glass shards littering the ground found their way through the slinky straps of her sandals and into the padded flesh of her toes. At the scent of Kerry's blood, the vampire stopped her assault and looked up, red liquid coating her teeth, and eyes sharply alighting upon Kerry's.

"Do you offer yourself in her stead?" The vampire licked her ruby lips, giving Kerry a smug appraisal. Her lips curled in amusement, but her eyes were too cold to make the expression look realistic.

Kerry's stomach coiled, with not only fear but a sickened dread. She had seen that condescending amusement before on another vampire, but on Ethan it had not looked so malicious and evil. This vampire was nothing like he was. "No," Kerry whispered, not altruistic enough to trade positions with her best friend. Immediately, she was filled with guilt. This situation was so incredibly wrong on so many levels. Kerry knew she didn't know much about vampires, but she had thought one of their major survival skills was to keep a low profile. That was one of the lessons Michel had taught her that she had never questioned the validity of. The vampire in front of her was doing exactly the opposite, and Kerry knew the other vampires would likely step in and deal with it at some point. That didn't necessarily help Nelle right this second.

The vampire stared for a moment longer, waiting for a change of answer, and then roughly pulled Nelle towards her by the hair. The injured girl whimpered softly, eyes rolling towards the friends who had tried to rescue her.

"Don't." Kerry pleaded frantically as the vampire opened her mouth to expose white fang. Oh God, she had to do something. Nelle didn't deserve to die like this. The vampire wasn't being gentle and the skin of Nelle's neck was already severely damaged in places. Kerry knew that there was no intention to make her best friend a vampire.

"Throw your cross at her!" Someone from the gathering crowd yelled. Not a single one of them stepped in to help as if this was some warped entertainment set up for their amusement.

"Nelle!" Nathaniel's voice rang like a warrior's call. The burly vampire was holding him against the wall, but was making no move to make him a snack as well. He turned his attention away from his quasi-girlfriend long enough to appeal to Kerry. "Do something!"

Kerry didn't know what else to do.

Suddenly, there was no need for her to do anything. The club manager had arrived with the cavalry and enough weapons to bring down a small tactical base. "Drop the girl." A command came from just behind Kerry's right ear.

Despite being surrounded, the vampire didn't look upset in the least. She smiled lazily, licking her teeth and appraising them with her icy eyes. At least she was no longer feeding on Nelle, Kerry thought, despite the chilled foresight she was getting that something was going to happen soon.

Quicker than the eye could see, the vampire dropped Nelle on the ground and lunged towards Kerry. The man to Kerry's right surged forward, trapping the vampire's hands and placing her in handcuffs. For a second she was shocked that anyone could move that fast. It takes a vampire to beat a vampire that easily, Kerry mused, wondering how many of the club officers were actually of the nocturnal variety.

As the woman vampire was being escorted from the room, her arm brushed against Kerry quite deliberately. For the second time that night, Kerry felt that foreign fear spring from within, but this time it was coupled by a hatred so putrid, she opened her mouth to vomit. Instead, an animalistic hiss emerged from her lips and coiled around her like a protective barrier. The hairs on the back of Kerry's neck stood up. She looked at the vampire woman, gathering the strength to look her straight in the eye.

Instead of the iciness she had expected, the vampire regarded Kerry with an emotion akin to fear. Her eyes flicked from Nelle's prone figure, and back to Kerry again before the officer jerked her further away.

Kerry was thankful the vampiress had brought the attention back to Nelle. Kerry hadn't exactly forgotten about her best friend during the excitement, but she may not have thought about her as quickly. With no regard to the club bouncers who were still standing around with their weaponry, Kerry hurried across the room and knelt beside Nelle.

Kerry's inept fingers felt for a pulse, but she couldn't find on. "Nelle?" She whispered, resisting the urge to shake her awake. "Somebody help me," she turned frantically to the people on the other side of the room. Why was she the only one trying to save Nelle's life?

One of the men standing around like G.I. Joe lowered his weapon and knelt beside her. Instead of giving his attention to Nelle, he took Kerry's hand off the body and cocked his head to the side, listening. "She's gone," he said softly.

Kerry knew enough about vampires not to question his verdict if the others were not.

"No!" Nathaniel exclaimed, the bouncers finally able to disentangle him from the burly vampire without causing him injury. Within seconds he was kneeling beside Nelle. "Call an ambulance. A doctor!" A few tears were trailing down his cheeks.

Kerry felt sickened. She had failed them both. She was the one who knew vampires existed, and yet she hadn't really warned them of the true dangers. There was nothing that could be done now. Nothing she could do. Nothing Nathaniel could do. Ethan probably couldn't even…

The solution hit her like a ton of bricks falling from a twenty story building. She wasn't sure why she was the first to think of it, considering she was in what had turned out to be a true vampire club and all. Nelle had been lured into this room intending to become a vampire, and that was how she would leave it if Kerry had any say about it.

"Change her." She demanded, turning to look at the vampire beside her. Instead of meeting her gaze, he looked towards the tiled floor. Quickly, Kerry searched the room for anyone who looked as if they were willing to help her. No one was looking directly at her except Nathaniel. "You," Kerry pointed at the man in charge, assuming him to be the club manager. Someone had called in crowd control and all the spectators were no longer around to gawk. Kerry quickly jumped to her feet and stalked across the room. "I demand that she be changed into a vampire."

Kerry had never ordered someone else to do her bidding before, but the transgression in her personality went unnoticed to her. It was necessary for Nelle to be turned if she were to live, and Kerry felt the obligation to make it happen. She couldn't just let one of her favourite people die. She and Nelle had been friends for so long, Kerry couldn't remember life without her.

The manager balked, loosening his tie in a nervous gesture. "The law won't allow us to turn a human into a vampire on the premises."

For a moment Kerry could barely think out of anger, disappointment, and extreme anguish. Nelle was dead. There would be no more late night movies where they giggled and talked about boys. With a strength she didn't know she possessed, her mind cleared of grief and she was able to notice how nervous the man standing before her really was. "I doubt the law would like that there was a murder here tonight. What with it being the opening night and all."

"Yes, well." The manager replied crisply, eyes dodging between Nelle and Kerry as he continued fidgeting with his tie. "It is harder to turn a human when the vampire intended to kill it. You see, your friend has severe damage that might be unable to heal in the transition. It will be harder still to change her without the one who fed on her."

"Then get her!" Kerry was getting severely exasperated with vampire politics. Every moment they argued, Nelle had a lesser chance of coming back. The man practically yanked his tie from around his neck because of her newest command. Kerry didn't think he was of the vampiric persuasion, as he didn't know how to keep his thoughts silent. She had enough exposure to this world to realize what was done to those who displeased vampires. "You can't, can you? She's already dead." She didn't form the last statement as a question. Kerry was almost completely sure she was right. Before the manager was able to answer, one of the lackeys handed him a cell phone. Her eyes were drawn down to Nelle's body and the way Nathaniel was bent over her, as if to shield her soul from escaping.

The vampire who had first informed her of Nelle's lifelessness was now eyeing her with fascination. "It would take an incredibly strong vampire to save your friend," he informed her.

"Could you do it?" Kerry asked, wishing she was able to judge the power of a vampire. As it was, she could barely discern who in the room was mortal and who was not.

The vampire snorted at her question and then ducked his head to show repentance for his rudeness. Before he could reply, the club manager clicked the cellphone shut. "The boss wishes to see the girl."

Kerry's heart leapt for joy. The boss had to be strong enough to save Nelle, right? She was about to express her thanks when she felt one of the lumbering bodyguards press something into her side. She felt the electric shock of a taser gun, and blessedly lost consciousness half way through.

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©RelenaFanel20/05/06

Hey hey hey! How was this chapter? I know a lot of you expected Michel to be hanging around the club, but I wouldn't do that. As far as I'm concerned, that is something he would never do willingly. So, tell me. Are any of you now hooked on this story yet?


	3. Chapter 3

I've been forgetting my handy disclaimer. Are you all ready for this, because I'm only going to say it once (as it is harder to keep up the denial ifI have to repeat)? I don't own any of Vivian Vande Velde's (hereon forth dubbed VVV) books, characters, initials, or sex-store scenes. I do, however, own Nathaniel. He likes it too.

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**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 3_

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Kerry never did wake up quickly, but today it seemed to take her hours to open her eyelids a slit. Her head was pounding as though someone had beamed her with a heavy boulder, and her limbs all felt as if they weighed tons. In fact, she would not be surprised if something heavy was directly on top of her. She didn't think she was in her bed. She remembered going to that club with Nelle and Nathaniel, and then…

Nelle was dead.

Oh, she had been better off not remembering that. Her heart wanted to weep at the loss of her best friend, but her mind was trying to convince her to find out what her current situation was. One thing she had learned over the years was that survival often required you to take a self-serving point of view. Ethan taught her that.

The room she was in was incredibly dark. It could be windowless, but for all she knew it was a dungeon. "Hello?" She whispered, not able to form her normal voice yet.

"Hello?" Another voice parroted back to her. She was almost sure it was another voice, but her head could be ringing enough to echo.

"Hello?" She tried again.

"Kerry?" The other voice called back. "It's Nathaniel."

"Are you ok?" The last time she had seen him, he had been valiantly trying not to sob like a baby over Nelle's body. She wasn't sure he had completely succeeded there.

"No, man, what was that thing they used on us?" He paused for a second. "I think I soiled myself."

That weight on top of her better not be Nathaniel, Kerry mused with a grimace, as she tried to roll over. "Tasers tend to do that." She wasn't sure if they had had that particular effect on her, as she still couldn't sense half her limbs and the other half were tingling painful from lack of blood circulation. Finally, she was able to shift her torso around so that she was facing the ceiling. Immediately the pressure on her chest eased. Right. She had been lying on her stomach. It was good, she supposed, that she had mistaken the front of her body being pressed into the hard floor as something on top of her. She really didn't want Nathaniel anywhere near her if he reverted back to a five year old poopy pants. "Where are we?"

"A bedroom?"

"A bedroom? Why would you think that?" She had no reason to think this was anything but a light-less room with no furniture.

"I'm pretty sure I'm on a bed."

"Hey!" Kerry called out indignantly, poking the floor beneath her to make sure it was, indeed, a floor. "Why do you get a bed?"

Nathaniel remained silent.

"I guess the vampires like you." She pushed, somewhat teasing but also feeling a bit spiteful. The cold floor couldn't be helping her stiff muscles. She supposed they were lucky to only be tasered and not drained of blood like a strawberry milkshake on a hot day. In fact, it was incredibly strange to think of vampires using tasers at all. It was kind of like 'let me incapacitate you with volts of electricity. Please ignore the fangs.'

Nathaniel laughed nervously. "We need to talk about that."

"About vampires? I guess they're real, huh?" She really hoped Nathaniel hadn't noticed all the small things she had said and done a few minutes ago (or hours, depending on how long they were out) that added up to a very large conclusion that she had known vampires existed for ages. He would probably blame what had happened to Nelle on her and it wouldn't be unjustified. She was blaming herself.

"Yeah, they're real." He sighed and obviously had more to say. He remained uncharacteristically silent.

Kerry was starting to make out shapes in the dark. It could be because she had only just opened her eyes, but she really wasn't sure. She could make out the large looming bed above her. Nathaniel's head poked over the side of it. At least, she assumed it was his head. It did look head shaped for once, whereas he had a habit of gelling his hair in outrageous shapes. She tried to remember what he had done with his hair last night, figuring a mundane detail like that would take the focus away from everything else she didn't want to be thinking about. Like, had they really turned Nelle? For the life of her, she couldn't remember his hair.

"Wow, you really are on the floor." Nathaniel snorted. He, too, was trying to misdirect from what they were talking about. She gave him a scathing look despite the fact she knew he wouldn't be able to see it. "I knew," he blurted out.

"What?"

"About vampires being real! I didn't say anything because I didn't want to encourage her and now it is all my fault that she's dead. I thought I could protect her and you were so sure that vampires didn't exist but you were also so careful so I thought that between the two of us we could make sure nothing happened. And now Nelle…" He broke of his babbling with a sob.

Wow. Talk about the last thing she had expected to hear. She had been pretty sure Nathaniel honestly didn't believe in vampires. For a second she was irrationally angry that he had mislead her, but her brain quickly pointed out that she had done the same to him. Who knew she'd have that in common with the weird guy next door? If anything, at least she knew she hadn't failed Ethan in keeping his secret, even if she felt obligated to tell some of it to Nathaniel now. He should know that the blame wasn't solely on his shoulders.

"Nathaniel?" She tried to break through his crying and not think uncharitable thoughts about him being a crybaby. She knew that at some point in the next day or so she would be doing the same. Right now, not knowing where they were or if Nelle was dead or _dead_, she felt as if the situation hadn't ended and so she had to remain strong. It was a trait she learned over the years; she had to stay strong so baby Ian wouldn't realize that mommy wasn't coming back to feed him today when all she wanted to do was cry and cry and cry and have her mommy hold her and tell her it was all right; she couldn't show her father or brother just how damaged she was for killing a man, or they might send her off to a shrink who would then convince her that her memories of Ethan had, in fact, been her brain's way of coping with the kidnapping; Nelle was sobbing in the bathroom, having just thrown up her meal as a side-effect of the drugs she was taking, and it was up to Kerry to hold back her hair and tell her not to give up hope when all she could think was that her best friend was dying and she was too ineffectual to make a difference. It seemed, around every corner, her life was throwing her more tests which tried to break her, and Kerry was determined to pass each and every one of them. Right now, what she needed to do was tell Nathaniel that she had known all along that vampires were real, and so she shared this blame with him as well. They were both too good of actors in the play which was ignorant human life in a world of hidden monsters. "Shhhhhhhhhhhh," she ended up calling in comfort, as if she were his older sister as well.

Nathaniel hiccupped, not even trying to calm his mourning. Kerry gave him points for that.

The door to their cell, which turned out to be an ordinary bedroom door, opened and a man walked in. Immediately, he took stock of the situation of Nathaniel on the bed and Kerry on the floor and winced. "Whatcha doing down there?" He asked Kerry, picking the easier of two topics.

"Whatever you meant for me to be doing, since I don't think I fell off the bed." Of course Kerry wasn't sure about that. She just made that reply for the sake of saying something.

"We definitely don't want you uncomfortable," he frowned, rubbing his hand over his jaw in a habitual movement. "The boss wants to talk with you."

Kerry felt a thrill blast through her nerves, tingling the surface of her skin as she struggled with the urge to smile inanely. Could it be? Could his boss be the very vampire she spent half her time looking over her should in the hopes of catching a glimpse of?

"Not until after we find out what happened to our friend Nelle." Nathaniel requested calmly from the bed. His voice was normal and almost authoritative, as if he hadn't been sobbing his eyeballs out moments before.

The vampire (or vampire lackey, Kerry wasn't as attuned to whatever skill it had been which allowed her to pick out the subtle differences before) looked disinclined to agree with him.

"Is she dead?" Kerry asked, knowing that Nathaniel was right. If the boss wasn't Michel, surely Kerry could find a way out of that situation so long as she knew Nelle would be taken care of.

The vampire laughed. "Yes, of course. You were there when she died."

Right. That hadn't been a particularly well-thought out question. "Will she stay dead?"

The vampire remained quiet. Kerry took that as a positive sign.

"Now, the girl has to come with me for a few minutes."

"No," Nathaniel protested. "We're going home."

The two men had a testosterone-laden staring contest. Kerry would have assumed the vampire to come out victorious, but he was the one who looked away first. "The boss won't be too pleased with me…" he trailed off.

"Please dad," Nathaniel wheedled.

Kerry looked between the two of them, slightly shocked. So that's how Nathaniel knew about vampires! Now that she had the insider-information, she could see the family resemblance. Nathaniel was still a bit younger than his father, but the two of them had the same strong jaw and almost sinfully feminine lips. The eyes looked to be the same shape, though different colors, which could have just been an effect of Nathaniel dabbling with his appearance.

"Kerry insists on going home right now," Nathaniel argued, easily putting words into her mouth. "She's a real prima donna sometimes."

Kerry glared at him, affronted that he would say something so untrue about her. Then her brain clicked in and she realized the only way Nathaniel's father would be able to take them home was if she did kick up a fuss and demand for it. She was the one 'the boss' wanted to see, and so she was the only one in position to make demands. The only problem was, she was interested in seeing the boss as quickly as possible. She had to know for sure whether he was Michel or not. On the other hand, she was feeling emotionally exhausted. Now that Nathaniel's father had given them a hint as to Nelle's future, she could feel the adrenaline beginning to crash. Who knew how long she could keep up the façade of strength? She looked at the tear-tracks running down Nathaniel's face and felt a piece of her own emotions break.

She was so busy trying not to cry for the first time that night, she almost missed Nathaniel's father raise his hand to a small wire communicator coiled around his ear. It wasn't until he turned around and began talking to the wall that she noticed his attention was elsewhere.

"No, I don't think either of them are up for it." He said into the communicator. "Yes sir!" His voice rose in surprise, "That is very generous of you, sir."

Kerry exchanged a quick glance with her friend, risking the fact he might send her over the edge and into sob-land. He looked just as curious as she did to what was going on with the boss on the side of the conversation they couldn't hear. "I'm not used to my dad taking orders," Nathaniel whispered to her. His dad flung his arm to the side towards Nathaniel's voice, as if he could chop through the sound so it wouldn't bother him. Kerry had seen her own father do that many times; it must be a universal parent shutting up talkative child while having an important conversation motion.

Nathaniel's dad (she really needed to figure out his name) clicked the side of his ear once again, ending the conversation and hanging up the phone. "The boss changed his mind," he explained blandly, as if the boss was always altering orders and it was expected. "He doesn't want to see Kerry tonight."

"Yippee?" Nathaniel asked.

"Not exactly. Kerry is required to come back for an audience tomorrow evening." He offered his hand to Kerry, who was still sitting on the floor. She grasped it thankfully, not sure if her legs were steady enough to get up on her own yet. Apparently, they were holding her weight for now, so that was a plus. Nathaniel's dad pulled her up easily, but it was still a human-like movement, with no excess power behind it. She frowned. Because of the obvious lack of difference between their ages and the whole position they were in at the moment, she had assumed Nathaniel's father was a vampire, but she supposed if she stretched it a bit, he could be older than he looked and had Nathaniel at a very young age. He never did announce in a melodramatic voice 'I am a vampyyyyyr!' when he arrived or anything. She was making assumptions again.

"Kerry and I will be right outside the door," he continued, handing Nathaniel a pair of pants neither of them had noticed resting on a chair. Of course, neither of them had been able to see the chair when the room was total darkness. Now that a light was on, and Kerry wasn't as occupied, she could tell that Nathaniel had hit it on the nose by guessing it was a bedroom. "I think she has questions to ask me." Mr. Nathaniel's Dad put his arm between Kerry's shoulderblades, navigating her out the door. At the last second he looked back at his son and asked, "Unless of course you want me to change your diaper." Then he laughed at Nathaniel and closed the door.

Kerry leaned against the wall opposite to the door, watching Nathaniel's father carefully. His gaze flickered from a security camera scanning the hallway and then back to her. Kerry imagined him to be silently conveying the message 'the walls have ears and eyes and teeth' but she had to remind herself not to make assumptions. He said she had questions for him, and boy did she ever, but she had firsthand experience with the ways vampires could dodge giving real answers, and even if he wasn't one, humans could be just as skillful. Are you a vampire? How did you have Nathaniel? How old are you? What does your boss want with me? There were so many valid questions she ask him, but she kept her mouth shut.

"What should I call you?" She finally asked. "Nathaniel's dad sounds very fifth-grade to me, but if you prefer…" she trailed off, leaving the ball in his court, the puck on his rink, and a bunch of other sports metaphors she didn't really care for and were likely to get all mixed up in her brain before long.

"Tim," he answered, obviously not joking.

"Tim?" Kerry asked incredulously. She had expected something like Ezekiel, Rafael, or something equally as antiquated. Heck, she would have accepted Lawrence. What she never would have guessed was someone who had given life to a nut-job (or, if she was feeling nicer, she could use 'enigma' for an adjective) like Nathaniel was named Tim.

"His mother is one of those free-agers." Tim explained smoothly, a smile present on his lips as he spoke of the woman he had copulated with at least once, as if used to people disbelieving he could have a son like Nathaniel.

Kerry nodded as if this made perfect sense. She was starting to see why Nathaniel was as messed up as he was. Any person would be confused with a hippie as a mother and an unaging vampire as a father. There she was, making the same assumption about Tim again, but this time there was something more behind it. The longer she was awake and regaining all her sensors after that electric shock to the brain, the more she was sure Tim was a vampire. It was as if that unnamable sense that helped her before was coming back. Or maybe, it was just that now that they were standing in the clear light of the hallway, she could see the pallor of Tim's skin, and the slight sharpness of his incisors.

"Hey!" Nathaniel's knock echoed on the door behind Tim. "You locked me in here again!" Nathaniel's father didn't move immediately to let out his son, letting Kerry see more of the slightly teasing relationship they seemed to have. It was like they were friends and peers instead of father and son. "If you don't let me out of here right now dad, I'm going to throw my dirty pants at you!" They all knew that Nathaniel couldn't possibly succeed against a vampire, but Tim moved to let him out anyway, exaggerating a sigh of annoyance.

"Gee, thanks," Nathaniel said sarcastically as he stepped out of the door, rolling one of his shoulders under his hand. He should have looked ridiculous with his dangerous black boots, siren red top, and a pair of white surfing shorts. Of course, he just managed to look typically Nathaniel instead of stupid. That said a lot about his regular wardrobe.

"Ok guys," Tim exclaimed, leading them through the hallway. "Let's blow this joint…" He didn't get much farther than the word 'blow' before Nathaniel started snickering. "Real mature. Maybe after this you'd like to go to the tree fort and ogle pictures of Victoria's Secret magazines while planning to toilet paper the mailman in the morning."

"Sounds like fun to me," Nathaniel agreed. "Kerry can't come though, because she's a giiiiiirl."

Kerry rolled her eyes, but didn't bother trying to hide the grin on her face. Nathaniel was one of the least offensive people she knew. He could practically get away with misogyny, give a little laugh, and all the girls would swoon over him.

"Besides," Nathaniel continued with a leer in her general direction. "She doesn't need to look at VS magazines. She could be in one."

See. That was exactly what she meant. How could someone be angry with him when he said stuff like that. "Yeah, but you'll never see my…" she trailed off, looking down at her chest being practically pushed out of the corset-ish shirt he loaned her. Right. Never mind that point either. "Perv," she laughed.

The two young adults were following Tim down the corridors, barely paying attention to where they were going. Kerry, however, tried to keep part of her mind recording the directions they made. She wasn't exactly sure where they were, but she had a feeling that tonight was only the beginning of something bigger. She had learned a lot since Michel, and while those were skills she wasn't aware of most of the time, she wasn't naïve enough not to notice that she had changed, or to think to assume that someone else would help her get out of whatever scrape she was in. She might not be a vampire, she was learning to rely on herself more and more as the years went by. Despite her attention to the hallways surrounding them, the corridors were dark and all were painted in a muted beige, which stretched monotonously across every surface. She was so turned around by the lefts and rights Tim made, that she was sure they passed the bedroom she and Nathaniel had been locked in twice.

She couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched.

"Kerry!" Nathaniel put his hand over his chest, pretending to be shocked by her insult. "I'm wounded by the names you call me." He slumped an arm over his eyes in mock despair.

"I wasn't calling you any names," she replied. "It was the truth."

"Dad," Nathaniel wined. "Kerry's being mean."

"Children!" Tim berated the two of them in a way only parents know how to do effectively. Kerry ducked her head in shame, trying to squelch the urge to mutter 'he started it' because that would be too child-like, and effectively prove Tim's point.

Nathaniel didn't even bother trying. "She started it," he sulked.

Kerry rolled her eyes. For a second she thought 'so this is what it's like to have an older brother' and then realized with Nathaniel's maturity level at the moment, he was more like a younger brother. She already had one of those, and while he was a nuisance sometimes, he never got up to this level of annoyance. Squabbling with Nelle's boyfriend was a nice distraction from grief though, and she wondered if he was doing it on purpose. Nathaniel did have layers that even she wasn't privy to, so she didn't really want to sell him short intelligence wise. Going with the flow, and getting caught up in this feeling of kiddie camaraderie, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yum." Nathaniel growled at her. "Do it again."

Kerry couldn't help but giggle.

"Shut up guys!" Tim had turned around and was glaring at his son. "I need you to be as quiet as possible as we walk through this door and into the garage."

Kerry immediately sobered. They were being held hostage in vampire territory, her mind screamed at her, why was she being so irresponsible? Sure, everyone needs a little joviality and play in their life, but she knew better than to do this now. She stared at Tim's back as he stood still, listening. She knew he was checking for heartbeats, or footsteps, or any signs that whoever they were trying to avoid was on the other side of the door. Michel had always done the pause and listen thing too. The way was apparently clear, for Tim pushed open the large metal door. The hinges groaned open and Kerry held her breath, waiting to see if anything happened. She wasn't sure if vampires could sense bombs, but she watched enough action movies to know that this point was the big climatic moment.

©RelenaFanel.June9.2006

A/N: Hey! Couldn't resist leaving it at the word 'climax'. We all wish, eh? This chapter has just a bit of humour to tide you through the next couple of chapters, which aren't very funny if I do say so myself. This update was due last week, but I posted Evening Sojourn then. For those of you who haven't read it a Michel/Kerry oneshot, why don't you check it out? I will get the next chapter of To Lure a Dragon posted soon. I'm just having a bit of trouble with what my muses want as opposed to what slips through my not-very-rapidly typing fingers. As always:

Review.

Your assignment this week – how cool is Nathaniel on a scale of 1-10? And why do you think that? (You can rate the other characters too, but its basically given that Michel gets ∞ -- the infinity symbol)


	4. Chapter 4

_

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_

Last time on ClubVamp:

"_Shut up guys!" Tim had turned around and was glaring at his son. "I need you to be as quiet as possible as we walk through this door and into the garage."_

_Kerry immediately sobered. They were being held hostage in vampire territory, her mind screamed at her, why was she being so irresponsible? Sure, everyone needs a little joviality and play in their life, but she knew better than to do this now. She stared at Tim's back as he stood still, listening. She knew he was checking for heartbeats, or footsteps, or any signs that whoever they were trying to avoid was on the other side of the door. Michel had always done the pause and listen thing too. The way was apparently clear, for Tim pushed open the large metal door. The hinges groaned open and Kerry held her breath, waiting to see if anything happened. She wasn't sure if vampires could sense bombs, but she watched enough action movies to know that this point was the big climatic moment._

* * *

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 4_

Nothing happened. She felt foolish for thinking that anything would when Tim nonchalantly walked through the opened door, Nathaniel took cue and followed behind. Kerry, a bit too cautious than the risk-taking guys, peered left and right before walking completely through the door. They were in an underground garage, cleaner than any she had ever seen before. The cement was almost bleached white and there were no trails of leaking car fluid or tire marks to be seen. She wondered if it was new or just upper class. The lighting was white and crisp. Beside another door to her left was a red Ferrari, one of those vintage ones like in Magnum PI. She eyed it for a second, walking straight into Nathaniel who was ogling the car as he had found God.

"Sorry," she muttered, walking around him.

Nathaniel didn't move. She thought she saw his lips moving in complete and utter reverence.

"It's only a Ferrari. You see them all the time on TV."

"Gnnnah." Nathaniel replied, moaning a bit.

"Uh." She hoped that wasn't what she thought it was.

"Nathaniel," Tim warned, sounding incredibly father-like. He pointed to a blue ford, the only decrepit looking car in the lot. "Get in the car."

Nathaniel took a step towards the red Ferrari before it dawned on him that his father had meant the blue rust-bucket he was standing beside. Kerry could see his shoulders slump in disappointed. She climbed in the back of the car, leaving shotgun to her neighbor. Nathaniel hopped into his seat, hiking up his white shorts up around his hips before sitting down. Tim got into the car, quickly starting it and pulling out.

"Don't worry," Kerry said, patting Nathaniel's shoulder as if she were comforting him. Instead, she was about to rub it in. "If you're lucky, you might get to ride in one yet. Just wait until you do. Man, you wouldn't believe how smooth it is compared to this…"

"You're shitting me, right?" He turned in his seat to glance back at her. "You've never been in a Ferrari, right?"

Actually, she had. She didn't like thinking of that time in Regina's car, but it was there in her memory bank. Thinking back on it was far easier than living it. She thought about telling Nathaniel, but she didn't exactly want to give Michel away yet. He might have a father who was a vampire, but Kerry knew next to nothing about vampire politics. "Would I lie?" She ended up asking, letting him draw his own conclusions.

"Is she lying?" Nathaniel turned to his father. Tim was busy navigating the ford from the entry way to the underground garage. They managed to leave whatever building they were in with no trouble whatsoever and Kerry wondered whether there was ever any real danger. Tim had said something in the beginning about her having an appointment to see the boss tomorrow. Maybe she had just misread the situation. As they emerged from the well-lit underground and into the dispersed lighting of the street, Tim shrugged his shoulders at Nathaniel's question and turned left.

"Does she know?" The older man asked his son, flicking his eyes to the rearview mirror in order to look at Kerry. She barely noticed; she was too busy watching her surroundings, noting how they came out of the garage about a block away from Club Vampyr. She wondered if the entire underground of the area was connected through those hallways she had just walked down. It seemed like a viable vampire solution to that pesky sun problem – all they had to do was control the underground network of an entire neighbourhood (or city). Of course, maybe someone had moved them both into another building while they were unconscious.

"Know what?" Nathaniel replied to his father's question.

"You know," Tim sounded exasperated as he accelerated through a yellow light. He glanced at Kerry through the rearview mirror before shooting Nathaniel a meaningful look.

"No, I don't kno- oh!" Nathaniel frowned, looking sheepish as if he had just let out a secret. "I dunno. Kerry?"

She really should have been paying closer attention to what the two stooges were saying instead of trying to figure out vampire property rights and city zoning codes. She glanced up in confusion, trying to figure out what the original conversation had been about. She needed to think of something to say that was intelligent and witty all at once, so that they wouldn't realize her ignorance. "Wha?" Oh yeah, that was quite verbose of her.

"Should I tell her?" Nathaniel asked slowly.

"She needs to find out at some point. Especially since Nelle…" They both turned and stared at her. Kerry was feeling distinctly uncomfortable under Tim's sharp scrutiny and Nathaniel's worried frown. What could they possibly have to tell her that was such a secret Nathaniel wasn't just blurting it out?

"What is it?" She managed to keep the frustration she was feeling at how long it was taking for them to just come out and say it out of her voice, but she still mimicked their hushed frantic tones. Was Nelle dead? No, that wasn't it. Nathaniel couldn't possibly know anything about Nelle that she didn't. They were unconscious at the same time after all.

Tim pulled the car over into the empty parking lot of a closed shoe store. He flipped his wrist, turning off the engine of the car and then unbuckled himself so that he could turn in his seat to look her in the eye personally instead of through a mirror. This motion conveyed the seriousness of the conversation more than voice tones or quick glances could. "Kerry," Tim started, staring unwaveringly at her face. "You must keep this a secret."

Kerry's eyebrows knitted together in a little frown as she mentally groaned impatiently. Yet again they were still making her wait for the answers instead of just telling her. She locked her fingers together on her lap so she wouldn't tap them against anything and show what she was really feeling. "Sure," she replied flippantly, "I'll take it to my grave."

Nathaniel's face hovered over his father's shoulders. At her words, his eyebrows winged up.

"If you talk you will be," Tim threatened with a low voice. Kerry felt a shiver up her spine and rest somewhere around her heart.

"Dad's a vampire!" Nathaniel blurted out. Finally. Kerry's eyebrows winged up in disbelief. Why hadn't she realized that was the secret they thought she should know? Just because she was already aware of vampires didn't mean the vampires knew she knew. You know? Nathaniel took her shocked expression as a sign she still didn't believe in vampires and hurried on with his explanation. "It's true!"

"Natha…" Tim began to warn.

"Show her your incisor!" Nathaniel turned away from his father and began babbling. "Vampires are real, Kerry. They walk amongst us just like we do and they have a beating heart and they breathe and they don't really kill when they feed. They can kill, but they don't need that much blood. Nelle is probably one now, so she won't die of leukemia or go into a decline or whatever her next step was. And it is such a relief to tell someone about this because I was sworn to secrecy ages ago and have been dying to tell someone."

"Whoa. Slow down!" Kerry blinked, trying to absorb everything Nathaniel just said. It wasn't really anything that she hadn't known before, but Nathaniel was a native of New York and tended to live up to the stereotype of quick-talking and muttering. At least, that's how it sounded to her own ears. Father and son took the expression on her face to mean she was having trouble absorbing everything. For a vampire et co, they weren't really all that perceptive. "Didn't we just have this conversation half an hour ago?"

Nathaniel frowned, not really remembering what she was talking about.

"I guess crying like a baby purges stuff like that from your mind," Kerry told him sympathetically with only a little sarcastic bite to the words.

He gave a quick scowl and then ignored her comment. "You've always told Nelle that vampires aren't real and I hate to tell you that you're wrong, but… you're wrong." Nathaniel rubbed a hand over his temple and looked at her sheepishly.

"You always agreed with me," Kerry retorted, it finally hitting her (again) that both she and Nathaniel had been playing the same game and telling the same lies. His crying had not only caused him to forget about the conversation they had been having, but made her forget about the main issues of it as well. Like, maybe if they had known they could be honest with each other, everything wouldn't have ended up like this. "You always knew, and you lied!" Kettle calling the pot monochromatic much?

Tim started the engine of the car as they spoke. He hadn't pulled out the incisors for a demonstration, but he didn't need to. Kerry had already known. If she was anyone else, she would be focusing on the fact that vampires were real instead of Nathaniel keeping it a secret. She felt betrayed. Kerry was furious at him for lying when he knew damn well that vampires existed, for not protecting Nelle better, and for having better connections to the vampire world than she did and not arranging something for his girlfriend. Mostly, she was angry at herself as well. She had been going around with the knowledge of Michel as if it was an unwanted chip on her shoulder. She had felt left alone in a world full of people who were in the dark, as if she was set apart from everyone else. Why hadn't she realized she wasn't special? If it was _that_ important for Michel to keep his vampirism a secret, he would have done away with her.

"I didn't lie!" Nathaniel retorted hotly. Apparently, he was feeling a bit guilty as well. "It would jeopardize my dad's life if I went around and told everyone about him. I know you've had a bad experience with vampire hunters. Imagine what would have happened if you actually were one."

Bad experience? She had spent years in therapy to deal with killing Marsala. "If I was a vampire he wouldn't have caught me." Kerry glared, raising her voice to cover the emotions and confusions still boiling within her from that incident. "That doesn't hide the fact that your girlfriend was dying and you hid important facts from her!"

"I didn't. I…" Nathaniel argued.

Kerry cut him off. "God, were you the one who put the idea of becoming a vampire into her head?"

"NO!" Nathaniel yelled, horrified at the thought that this was all his fault. Kerry could sympathize because that's how she was feeling at the moment too. "She got that from you!"

"She did not," Kerry screamed back at him, ready to unbuckle her seatbelt and throttle him from behind the chair.

"Children," Tim warned calmly in his father-voice. They both pouted petulantly for being scolded.

"Nathaniel," Kerry said, calming down enough to speak rationally. "I think anyone who knew about vampires wouldn't know what to be feeling right now. Guilty for not being able to save Nelle. Pleased because she got what she wanted and will now live forever. Guilty again because she was killed when you held the key to her becoming a vampire all along."

Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest, huddling in the front seat as if she had broken his spirit. When he spoke, she could feel the sorrow on his voice. "It's all my fault. I don't blame you for blaming me. I blame me too," he told her in a quiet, exhausted voice.

That hadn't been what she had meant. "I failed too, you know." Kerry's anger dissipated, mirroring Nathaniel's emotions almost completely. They were alike each other far more than she had realized.

"Dad was gonna change her," Nathaniel sobbed quietly. "I worked and worked and worked at him to bend the rules this once. He was gonna do it when her quality of life started to decline." They all remained silent for a second. Nathaniel finished what he had to say, his voice almost inaudible through tears. "If only she had waited."

There was nothing to be said in response to that.

Kerry leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. The dizziness and nausea left over from being tazered crept back to the surface of her conscious. She wanted to throw up. If only life would go smoothly every now and then. She stared flatly out the window, not really seeing the streetlights as they passed by. What was going to happen with her best friend now? They had been through so much together. In third grade they had both broken an arm when the ancient tree-house they had found in the woods behind Nelle's house had collapsed. In fifth grade they had both ditched music lessons together and plotted revenge on their mothers for making them learn how to play the piano and flute. Once the eighth grade and puberty came along, they had wondered about kissing, experimented with makeup, and fought over who was allowed to have a crush on Scott Henderson. High School was when the real drama of missing mothers, bad perms, kidnapping, young love, young hate, graduation and prom, laughing, crying, telling secrets, keeping secrets, and the excitement of moving away from home began. Last year, Nelle had gotten sick.

After that, everything had changed as it remained the same.

"Kerry? Ok back there?" Tim asked from the front of the car. It took her a second to realize that they had stopped moving. It took even longer for her eyes to bring the world back into focus so she could see that they were parked outside of the apartment building. Nathaniel was already out of the car, staring at the door looking as tired and disoriented as she felt. Kerry nodded a response and opened the door to the car. The cool air bit at her skin. She rubbed at the goosebumps forming, vaguely remembering the outfit she had put on to go clubbing eons ago. Would it have hurt her to change into something Nelle approved of? Nelle might not be truly dead, but Kerry was still mourning her. Would they ever see each other again? Would vampirism change Nelle?

Feeling blank, she followed Nathaniel into the building. He turned away from the elevators and towards the stairs. Kerry hesitated, torn between following him to fulfill her need for company or allowing him to be alone like he obviously needed.

Tim put a hand on her shoulder, causing Kerry to jump. She hadn't realized he had entered the building behind them. "We'll take the elevator."

Kerry nodded. She hadn't been up to making the decision herself anyway.

"I need to talk to you," Tim explained as he pressed the button to call an elevator down to the lobby.

"About?" Kerry sighed internally. She didn't want to spend any more time talking. She could feel her strength ebbing and she wasn't sure if she would be able to stand for much longer, let alone hash over whatever Tim needed to talk about. She suspected it had something to do with keeping an eye on Nathaniel. She certainly did appear to be taking everything better than he was, but then Kerry had learned control during her short life.

"Tomorrow, the owner of the club is going to call you in and ask you about some of the things that happened in that room. Especially how quickly you grasped what was happening to Nelle," Tim leaned forward, whispering as if the lobby had a thousand eyes and ears all focused on them.

"I don't know," Kerry told him hollowly. "I just had to do something."

"Tonight in the car," he continued, as if he were the one doing the interrogation. "Why didn't you question Nathaniel about vampires more."

"Shock?" She answered his question with one of her own. All her senses were telling her not to give away Michel. Who knew what could happen to him if her story came out. Maybe nothing. That still didn't change the fact she knew very little about vampire politics or inner workings and it just felt important to her to keep her secret close to her heart. That might have something to do with her own feelings rather than a need to protect, but she didn't want to analyze that too much. "I'm sure I'll have tons to say tomorrow."

The elevator doors open, coupled with a ding of warning that they were going to close soon. Kerry took a step towards them. Tim grabbed her arm again, keeping her from dismissing him. "Kerry. Let me cut straight to the heart of the matter." His face was emotionless and yet pleasant, making him look more like a vampire as she knew them and less like a father. "Did you already know about vampires?"

She opened her mouth to tell the truth, but still couldn't say anything. She also couldn't lie. "Everything I did or said tonight was out of necessity. That's all." She pulled away from him and stepped into the elevator. "Including this conversation," she said just as the doors were closing. She didn't want to answer any more of his questions, but hopefully that gave him enough of an answer so he knew the truth, but not enough to be incriminating. Even though he was Nathaniel's father, she didn't know whether she could trust him. Though, now that she thought about it, she may have been a bit too cryptic.

The elevator took exactly the same amount of time as it ever did. Once she exited, shoulders slumped in exhaustion and looking like a girl who had partied too hard and was now dragging herself home, she immediately trudged down the hall and to her empty apartment. She didn't meet Nathaniel in the hallway, which meant that he was either quicker than the elevator and already in his place or he was still climbing the stairs. She didn't really care. Carefully, she peeled down the edge of her skirt and worked at unhooking the pin tucked into the side of the cloth without poking herself with the needle. Luckily, something went right that evening and she was able to get her apartment key out of the hiding place with no incident. She unlocked the door and was immediately depressed with the dark, lonely apartment. Locking the door behind her, she bypassed her bedroom and entered Nelle's slightly larger room. Tears were blurring her sight as she flopped on to Nelle's bed and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed for her best friend, finally allowing the emotions she had been suppressing to come out full force.

Kerry cried until she fell asleep, hugging Nelle's wet pillow to her face for comfort.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.June26.2006

HAPPY SUMMER!

I don't know what to pimp first. I started a new CotN series called Encounters Before Dawn. It is basically a short story where Kerry encounters Michel before CotN, but not in a way which could compromise the book.

Secondly, I would love to get just 3 more reviews for 'To Lure a Dragon' before the next update. It would mean a lot to me if you guys could do that for me.

Finally, as always, review.

Is the story going to slow for you? Is the pace fine? Are you losing interest without Michel around?


	5. Chapter 5

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 5_

* * *

Kerry awoke around noon, instantly disoriented by the black sateen pillowcase her face was smushed into. The sun was shining through the window and onto the back of her head, making the scalp under her hair feel hot. She ran her tongue over her teeth, feeling the fuzziness of not brushing before bed. Groaning, she rolled over. Her cheek still felt damp and she was sure the creases from the pillow were now attractive red marks on her face. Her whole body was aching from the wracking sobs she had experienced the night before and the material from Nathaniel's top had rubbed her skin raw under the arms. She lifted her hand up to shield her swollen eyes before opening them.

Nathaniel was seated on the burgundy beanbag next to Nelle's bed, watching her.

"Gah!" Kerry yelled, groping for a blanket. Her head was still on automatic, equating just waking up to just waking up wearing only a t-shirt. It took her a second before rationality kicked in and she realized she had been wearing the same clothes he had left her in the night before. Of course, she was sure if she got out a measuring tape, it would turn out that her night-shirt had more material. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing you are, probably." Nathaniel replied, staring at a photo album open on his lap.

Since she had come in here to be closer to Nelle and have a good cry, she was sure he was right. "This is foolish," she told him, sitting up and rubbing at her damp face. "She didn't die, or anything."

"She did die." Nathaniel argued with her, looking back to the book as if this conversation was too difficult for him.

Kerry didn't really know how to comfort him. He felt exactly the way she did. She had been realizing that a lot lately. If anything, this experience was bringing her closer to this wacko who sometimes dated her best friend but who she was sure loved Nelle as much as she did.

"Stop pretending everything is okay, because it isn't!" Nathaniel spoke harshly, almost yelling at her.

Kerry fell silent, simply looking at him.

"I heard you crying in here," he told her, looking pointedly. She had forgotten that his room in his apartment was right next to Nelle's room. Sometimes, they used to hold really loud conversations while lying in bed on Saturday mornings. This was one Saturday they wouldn't be doing so. "I thought you could use some company."

"Not really," she informed him, starting to freeze him out because he had heard her emotional reaction to the night before. She was sure his pronouncement had caused her to blush slightly, but worse than that was the knowledge that he knew. He had heard and witnessed her breakdown. "I wasn't really crying."

For the first time that morning, Nathaniel really looked at her. "Tears aren't the enemy," he frowned, and she knew he was starting to see more than she was comfortable with. "I'm glad you did. I was starting to feel like a baby compared to your strength. You've known her for longer than I have. You don't have to hide how you feel."

But she did. Why couldn't he understand that her control was sometimes the only thing she had left? Kerry nodded, knowing he was right but unable to stop herself from wondering how long she had been adopting a mask. She used to cry freely, hadn't she? Had her mother changed that? Had Michel? She'd think about it later. Scooting forward on the bed, she leaned forward and took his hand. "I don't want to be alone right now either," she told him softly. The layers in her hair fell gently over her eyes, hiding them from sight. She was still slightly uncomfortable with opening up to him, but he needed the reassurance as much as she did. It wasn't often that she didn't feel completely alone when life threw her another problem to deal with.

The moment was over as quickly as she initiated it. "Do you want some coffee?" She asked him, slipping back into her friendly demeanor.

"Chocolate milk?" He asked, playing along with pretending everything was normal.

"Sure, I think we have some in the fridge." Kerry got up from the bed, finger combing her hair behind her ears so that it fell around her shoulders without obscuring her face. It was always safe to talk about food with Nathaniel. "Want some breakfast?"

"It's after twelve."

"Lunch then?"

"I'm not really hungry." Nathaniel smiled crookedly at her. She noticed that his hair was limp and slightly greasy. This was the first time, including when he had the flu last year, that she had seen him not care about how his precious hair-style looked. That in itself was far more telling than any tears or furious conversations could be.

Kerry sighed, half way to the door. "Me neither." She stood in the center of the room feeling inadequate. She just didn't know what to do with herself. She liked to think she was a girl of action, and all this sitting around and waiting for things to happen and for news on Nelle was slowly grating on her nerves. Kerry wanted to be productive. "Is there anything we should do?" She asked. If anyone would know about these things it would be the somber man sitting beside the bed. He had gone through it all with his father. "Call her parents or report her missing or anything?"

Nathaniel looked up sharply from staring at memories on paper. "We don't even know she's a vampire."

Kerry's eyes widened in shock. Yes they did. Tim had said… nothing, now that she thought about it. "Wouldn't your dad have told us if she was dead?"

He laughed sharply, his bitterness like a razor cutting beneath the surface. "I don't know anymore. He called before dawn to ream me out for going to the club after he told me not to."

"Mmmhmmm," Kerry muttered, not really sure how to respond. She knew if their situations were reversed, her dad would so the same.

"He says to watch out for you and that he'll be back to pick you up around eight." Before she could answer, he continued on. "It just seems to strange, you know? He was always so larger than life. My dad, the big bad vampire. Now all I see him as is some slave to someone else."

"It's like he's working for a living. My dad has a boss too, that doesn't make him weaker or anything," Kerry replied, trying to comfort her friend. She knew what it was like to worship someone who fell far below your expectations. Since Nelle had dragged them to Club Vampyr, it seemed all she and Nathaniel had were serious conversations, though that wasn't true since both of them were very good at misdirection and playing pretend, and Kerry always felt at a loss for what to say so long as they weren't yelling their frustrations at each other or joking around to hide their true anguish. "I'm sure he would have told you straight out whether she was dead. We talked about her being a vampire last night and he didn't contradict us either."

"He told me I shouldn't be worried about Nelle right now," Nathaniel said pointedly, getting up from his seat so he could be eye to eye with her. That didn't bode well.

"No, you shouldn't."

"Apparently, I should be worried about you," he brushed passed her as if he resented Tim's suggestion that Nelle should not be the focus of his concern.

"Me? Why?" She followed him into the hallway, frowning in confusion. Nathaniel turned on her, suddenly angry. Good, she could deal with anger better than she could moping.

"What do you know about vampires?"

"Not much," Kerry admitted.

"Did you know about them before I told you last night?" As far as inquisitions went, Nathaniel wasn't the greatest.

"Which time?" Kerry laughed. It sounded hollow and fake to her own ears. She felt as though the hallway walls were closing in on her. "Everyone knows about vampires. Buffy was a big hit to our generation."

Nathaniel narrowed her eyes in frustration, running his hand through his hair in a gesture which was so heartbreakingly like one Michel had directed towards her once upon a time that she suddenly had the urge to tell Nathaniel the entire story. She couldn't, yet. This was the wrong time to think of Michel because she was trying her best to deny he was real so she wouldn't be lying to Nathaniel. "Stop misdirecting me. Have you or have you not encountered a vampire before now, or was everything that happened in that room a fluke?"

"Oh come on," Kerry hedged. "That woman was obviously a vampire. I don't think any humans would be able to do that."

"Kerry," Nathaniel warned.

"I…" She looked right into Nathaniel's eyes. "Had no idea what I was doing in that room." She lied to him. Well, it was the truth, but she intentionally didn't mention that she had encountered a vampire before. Immediately, she felt guilty due to her father's influence instilling good morals into his children. The voice in her head which sounded suspiciously like Michel congratulated her for successfully maintaining eye contact.

Nathaniel sighed, slumping against the wall and pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry. It's important that you're warned."

"About what?" Kerry asked, wondering what was going on. It obviously stemmed from his conversation with his father. Both of them were so concerned with finding out what she knew that it was starting to make her paranoid. Now, more than ever, she was glad she hadn't just blurted out what she knew about Michel. She had promised to protect him no matter what it took, hadn't she? Even though she hadn't seen the vampire for years, she was still in that closet prepared to hold the door closed with her fingernails.

"Apparently someone there noticed something strange about what happened and told the Boss. The vampires are now curious about you. They think you know something you shouldn't." Nathaniel leaned against the wall in the hall, arms crossed and gaze unwaveringly. He looked like an entirely different boy than the one who joked with her less than 24 hours before.

"Let them be curious," Kerry told him flippantly. Inside she was starting to grow worried. She couldn't help but draw equivalents between this experience with vampires and her previous one. Then, when she had realized Ethan was a vampire, he had tried to kill her. Was she about to walk into another situation where the vampires would try to kill her for her knowledge? She really needed to remember that she was in a dangerous position. "What did I do?" she squeaked, already picturing her death.

"I don't know," Nathaniel informed her. "But you should try to remember exactly what happened." He stood up from her position against the wall and turned to finish walking down the hallway. At first she thought he was going to the kitchen to steal some of their food like he did almost every day. Instead, Nathaniel bypassed the kitchen and grabbed the knob to the front door. "Just promise me one thing, Ker."

"What?" She asked, her mind racing to figure out where she went wrong. She couldn't remember slipping up and giving her knowledge about vampires away a single time. Each thing she did could be explained as normal reactions. Knowing Nelle was being killed by a vampire? Well, they were in a place called Club Vampyr, it was a suitable assumption. Knowing that vampires could change humans? Well, like she had told Nathaniel a few minutes ago – vampires were a big fantasy to this generation.

"Try not to lie tonight. Vampires can hear heartbeats, so it is like they have a built-in lithograph." Nathaniel opened the door, continuing his speech framed by the wooden panels of the doorframe. "And they aren't as forgiving as I am," he informed her, shutting the door harder than was necessary.

Kerry let the wall behind her support her weight as she slid down to the floor. She didn't cry, only stare at the weaving in the carpet as if she could discern the thread which would unravel all her problems. So Nathaniel suspected she was lying. What was she going to do now? There was no way she'd be able to sit in front of a vampire and deny that she didn't know a thing about them. She couldn't even succeed in doing that with a human. He was right. She was so screwed. She needed a plan.

Maybe she should just run away. Would they find her?

She needed more than a plan. She needed Michel.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.July14.2006

AN- You know I love you guys, right? Now, with Michel still not in the picture, you have to remember how much you love me. I know it is frustrating, but I think it would be too easy for me to begin the story with him.

Care to hazard a guess where he will show up?


	6. Chapter 6

Club Vampyr

Chapter… uh… 6?

Around eight, only a short time after sunset, she met Tim in front of the apartment. There were dark circles under her eyes from anxiety and fatigue. For confidence, she was wearing black pinstriped pants with a matching fitted vest. She looked like an accountant and felt like a fraud. She had agonized over what to do for hours that day and was no closer to a solution than she was that minute after Nathaniel left. Sure, she had come up with a few ideas, but some were even more likely to get her killed than lying would. She had fantasized about going in there and slaying the boss in true Buffy fashion. She had wondered if she could just remain silent and not answer any questions. She had come up with a game plan which was far from foolproof.

Kerry was wishing all her problems would be solved and the Boss guy would just end up being Michel.

Tim opened the passenger door of a SUV for her. It was a literal step up from the ford he had driven the night before. "Company car," he explained as if reading her mind. "Unfortunately, the Ferrari is reserved for VIP."

"I guess I'm not special enough, eh?" Kerry joked, wiping her sweating palms against her pants. "That's ok. Wouldn't want to give your son an aneurysm." Immediately after the weak joke she winced. Best not joke about erupting blood vessels with vampires. The vehicle was driving smoothly. Kerry was grateful for that; she felt as if she was going to vomit at any moment. Everything would have been easier had they just kidnapped her or something.

"This guy you're meeting," Tim struck up conversation from his position in the driver's seat. "You don't have to be so nervous. He's pretty low on the totem pole."

"Oh?" Kerry asked, slightly surprised. "I thought you said he was your boss."

"The head honcho never meets with humans himself," Nathaniel's father explained.

"Then why is he even interested in me?" She asked, her confusion growing even further. It wasn't really unexpected to know that vampires had hierarchies too. "Wait. Head honcho of what? Vampires? The club? The mafia?"

Tim didn't look like he was going to answer her for a moment. "Kind of all of the above. I'll explain it to you some time, if I can. Let's just say I work for a guy who works for THE guy. This person you're meeting works THE guy directly."

"Higher on the totem pole than you are, eh?" Kerry asked, immediately regretting the words the moment they emerged from her mouth. She was so used to the constant ribbing she and Nathaniel did, that she kept wanting to do the same to his father. "Sorry," she muttered, honestly contrite.

Tim shrugged, turning into the same garage they had exited the night before. Kerry recognized it because of the extreme white and cleanness of it. There couldn't be many garages which looked like a car had never been in it. "We're here," he proclaimed unnecessarily, parking the SUV in a reserved place.

Kerry felt her trepidation escalate. Every vampire in the building would be able to hear her heart beating quick and steady in her chest.

"Don't fear these people, Kerry. They'll only use it against you." Somehow, Tim had gotten out of his seat and opened the door next to her without her noticing. She was seriously close to hyperventilating.

"I'm gonna puke," she muttered, pushing by him and searching the parking lot for a garbage bin. Unfortunately, this wasn't a regular parking lot and there were no trash cans in sight. However, the main entrance was flanked by white marble plant urns with tall greenery spouting out of them. Good enough. Kerry rushed over, throwing herself down in front of them and bowed her head above the soil.

"Not there!" Time cried in dismay.

It was too late. She was already gagging, but nothing wanted to come up. This was the first time she had ever even came close to throwing up while nervous and stressed, and she probably would have if she had eaten anything that day. Luckily, she was too worried to do that. Sitting in the ground with ferns brushing against her head like a phantom touch, she felt as sense of calm overcome her for the first time in hours. Her emotional turmoil melted away as if someone was stripping her of it. She felt as if everything would be ok.

"I'm good," she told Tim, taking a deep breath to steady herself before moving slowly to her feet. The nausea didn't come back. "Plants are ok too," she grinned, fortifying herself more against the impending attack with every second. She had thought she had used up all her strength the night before, but now that it was starting to stream back she realized how foolish that was. She just needed to focus on getting through this instead of knowing she was going to fail. Of course, she was still terrified.

"Follow me," Tim told her, leading her through the main doors and into the underground corridors. He was suddenly all business-like, and Kerry realized they were probably now under the close scrutiny of his superiors. Every once and a while she caught sight of a camera in a corner, and she was sure they were being monitored. Instead of worrying over being watched, the idea made her feel safe. Gee, it was almost like someone had slipped her some calming drugs or something. She was sure that didn't happen, but she felt almost unnaturally at peace. Vampires couldn't do that, right? Michel had once told her, to paraphrase, that he couldn't put humans who were too wired to sleep.

"Can vampires control moods?" She asked Tim. "Because I'm feeling seriously mellow."

Tim's eyebrows scrunched together in a frown. Instead of answering, he held open a door for her. "We're here. Good luck." With a pat on the shoulder and what he probably thought was a reassuring smile, he left her alone to enter the room. She felt as if she was walking towards a pivotal point in her life.

Kerry took another fortifying breath and walked into the office. The door closed behind her ominously and she jumped. She had expected to walk into the room and find a scary-looking vampire glaring at her from behind a desk and two huge muscle-bound vampire body guards flanking him. Instead, the room was empty except for herself. Shifting her eyes back and forth, she looked for any traps and/or cameras watching her every move. Swiftly, feeling like a target standing in the doorway like she was, she moved to the opposite side of the room and sat in a large leather chair angled in front of the desk.

She waited. Her nervousness was starting to come back. Taping her fingers against the arm of the chair in a quick but undistinguishable beat, Kerry wondered what was going to happen to her. Did they just bring her here to kill her? Were they just toying with her like the executive of a large corporation might by making her wait? In class, if a prof didn't show up within fifteen minutes of the start of class, the students could leave. Did that rule apply here too?

"Hi! Sorry I'm late!" A professional female voice said with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. Kerry jumped for the second time since entering the room. The woman had managed to sneak up on her without Kerry hearing a thing. The newcomer held out a hand, urging Kerry to grasp her fingers in a courtesy shake. "I'm Rachel."

"Kerry," she replied politely, shaking Rachel's hand. Immediately, she felt that feeling of terror boiling up from the pit of her stomach again. She had forgotten about that, but it was quickly becoming a personal vampire detection system.

"I know, I've heard a lot about you. Now, I'm not supposed to tell you this," the older woman leaned forward as if she was telling Kerry a secret just between girls. "But I know what it's like to have a best friend. Nelle's change went smoothly."

Kerry immediately felt a sense of relief. She had been so worried about Nelle. Tim hadn't really told them anything.

"So tell me," Rachel switched topics with ease. "How much do you know about vampires?" The question was coupled with a friendly smile.

"Not much," Kerry replied, trying not to look alarmed. She couldn't do anything about her heart rate picking up. Warning bells were going off in her head. She knew that smile, and had been the recipient of it many times before. Michel had used it at his most frightening and manipulative. "Only what I know from TV and books and stuff."

"That's all?"

"Are you a vampire?" Kerry asked, employing the same misdirection she had unsuccessfully used on Nathaniel earlier that day. Avoiding the question posed to her was only one reason for her response. She realized that one of the worst and most telling things she could do was know or assume Rachel was a vampire.

Rachel lost the smile, her face turning into an impassive mask. "Yes."

Kerry took a page out of Rachel's book, using the strategies she had learned to use and recognize years ago. She grinned innocently and slightly embarrassed at her own ignorance and reverted to the sixteen year-old driving in a car with the strange enemy. "How do you put your makeup on so flawlessly if you can't see in a mirror?"

"Vampires have reflections." Rachel's facial expression didn't change. Kerry tried not to look overtly pleased with herself. Not only was she not sure if her ruse worked, but gloating would only give her away.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Kerry muttered. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep playing this game. She never had been the type of girl who could lie and get away with it, and it seemed like all the times she was forced to, the stakes were high. She shifted on the huge chair uneasily, waiting for Rachel to ask her next question.

"So…"

The familiar bars of Michael Buble's _Home_ jingled through the room, interrupting Rachel mid-question. Kerry dug into her pocket and quickly extracted her cell phone. "Sorry," she muttered again, flipping it open and greeting her father without looking at the caller ID. Personalized ring-tones were a great invention. She knew taking a phone call right now was extremely rude, but she had asked him to call her around this time for that exact purpose. It was part of her plan. They wouldn't kill her if they knew someone else knew where she was. Yes, her logic was convoluted like that sometimes.

"Hey dear, wassup?" Her dad asked, employing what he referred to as 'youth talk.'

"Not much. I'm at Club Vampyr at the moment." She told him.

"What! Kerry, you're still underage. You promised you'd be responsible…"

"Don't worry dad," she forced a laugh. "I'm in the back talking to the club manager."

"Owner." Rachel corrected, practically gritting her teeth.

"I mean owner." Kerry conveniently didn't mention she had used her fake identification to get into the club the night before.

"What for?" Her father asked sternly.

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Now she'd have to lie to her father and Rachel would be able to see first-hand what her reactions were to telling a lie. "Oh, I'm talking to a vampire about whether or not they're going to kill me tonight," she said flippantly, trying to pass it off as a joke.

"Kerry!" Her dad practically yelled. "Don't joke about vampires like that. Not after what happened to…"

"Gottogobye," Kerry quickly said into the phone, pressing the off button with her thumb at the same time. She wasn't sure if Rachel had heard her father's side of the conversation, but it was a pretty good bet. Looking into the vampire's expressionless face, Kerry wondered if cutting her dad off was the best thing to do. She hadn't wanted Rachel to know there was an incident involving vampires in her past and so she had stopped her father from speaking, but the end product was exactly the same. She had just proved her own guilt. At least she had achieved one thing and her father now knew where she was. She watched enough CSI to know that this would be the first place the cops checked for her if she went missing.

"I'm so sorry," she gushed, turning her attention back to Rachel. "He's so overprotective. Calls in every few hours or so to check on me. You were saying," Kerry prompted.

"That woman who attacked your friend was scared of you last night. Why?"

As far as questions were concerned, Kerry had not been expecting that one. She had been so focused on protecting Michel that she hadn't really analyzed every moment in that room. There had been far stranger things going on than the fact she stood up to a few vampires. She had experienced that feeling in her stomach enough times now, the most recent being just a few minutes before, but she had no idea where the extreme physical reaction of hissing had come from. Kerry had caused a vampire to look at her in fear. If that wasn't remarkable, then nothing was. She really had no idea how she had managed it. "I really don't know."

"You don't?" Rachel asked, looking at her intently.

"Not at all," Kerry said truthfully. She had the feeling that Rachel didn't believe her. It was ironic, really. She had been prepared to lie and didn't need to. Kerry was honestly flummoxed. She tried to show it through her facial expressions, but didn't quite pull it off. Her thoughts were too convoluted for her to do much more than frown and stare blankly.

Rachel grabbed a remote from her desk and pressed a button. Suddenly, the quiet office was filled with the sound of Kerry's animalistic hiss from the night before. When she had made the noise, it had been a natural instinct, but now that she heard it shivers went down her spine in fear. It definitely didn't sound human. She had reacted out of fear, feeling corned and desperate. Why did she sound like a snake or a cat or something? "Why did you hiss?"

"I don't know that either," Kerry shrugged, giving a little shake of her head. This interview was going down the drain really quickly. She started to feel her nervousness creep back to her stomach. Wiping the palms of her hands on her pants, she tried to look confident.

"You're lying." Rachel leaned forward to look Kerry in the eye. This time the move was not calculated to make her feel comfortable, but to intimidate. "You know what I think?"

"No," Kerry whispered, a little frantically. The vampire thought she was lying. She was going to die. "No."

"You know more than you're letting on." Rachel leaned back in her seat, studying Kerry with careful eyes.

That was it? The big theory was that she knew more than she was letting on? She didn't, not really. Sure, the night before she had known about vampires before she had been officially told, but now what she learned from Michel wasn't much more than what Tim and Nathaniel had told her. She hadn't realized how careful Michel had been with his secrets. But now, she didn't know the answers to anything Rachel was asking. "I don't," Kerry's voice was a little shrill from desperation. It grew louder for almost every word she uttered. "I really don't know what's going on. I don't."

"Ok." Rachel told her, more as an effort to calm her down than actual complacency.

"I mean," Kerry rambled on, the octave of her voice no longer creeping up, but she still couldn't stop the nervous need to explain her case. "So what if I sounded like a cat or something. It was probably only a fluke. Maybe that vampire is scared of cats or something."

"Vampire."

"What?" Kerry stopped speaking, that one word reminding her why silence was more necessary.

"The noise was something a vampire would make. We analyzed it to make sure." Kerry was informed. The other woman was looking at her expectantly as if she were looking forward to Kerry's response.

"But I'm not a vampire," Kerry whispered, wanting to bring her knees to her chest and curl into a ball on the seat. She was suddenly chilled.

"Which is why we want to know why and how you made it."

"I don't know," Kerry repeated herself. The conversation had come full circle. Neither of them had the answers from it they had wanted. Kerry was more confused than ever. Why was she making vampire sounds? Was it a fluke? She hadn't told them anything. Was it important enough for the vampires to find out the why of it that they wouldn't just kill her? From what she had learned from Ethan – Michel – if they thought someone was a threat, that person was immediately disposed of. Kerry was now in more danger than ever.

"You don't?" Rachel asked, standing from the chair beside Kerry and circling so she was behind her desk. The vampire woman leaned forward, her hands braced against the aged wood. She looked Kerry in the eye and repeated, "you don't know?"

"No," Kerry trembled, her eyes locked on the vampire. She couldn't look away. In vampire lore, she would have been mesmerized, but in real life she was paralyzed with fear. She needed to make herself understood and believed.

"Ok, then," Rachel told her, sitting down behind her desk like the queen of the manor and pulled some files out of a drawer.

Kerry wasn't sure, but it sounded and looked as if she was being dismissed. She stood from her seat, wearily searching the room from assassin vampire ninjas getting ready to jump from behind a curtain and kill her. "Ok, then," Kerry echoed, her voice incredibly soft. She felt a bit bewildered.

"You may leave," Rachel supplied.

Kerry nodded, not wasting any time turning and exiting the room. She was extremely relieved to be finished with the interrogation, but she couldn't help but feel that it had gone too easily. She didn't want to wish a greater punishment on herself or anything, but it seemed as if she had gotten away with the most minimal damage after her tense afternoon of expecting torture. The vampires were letting her go? Just like that?

"How was it?" Tim asked, a concerned fatherly look on his face. He appeared by her side almost immediately after she left the office. She liked the idea that he was looking out for her, but she knew that when it came right down to it, his first loyalty was to his employers. She didn't think she had trust issues, though that was entirely possible what with the deceit and betrayal she had experienced from her mom when she was in the mental growth stage of life, but it was obvious to her that she was only an inconsequential human girl somehow getting deeper into the hazardous vampire affairs than she had ever intended. This time, she didn't even have Michel by her side – with him, there was a fifty percent risk he'd kill her, but also the same amount of chance that he would find a way to save her life. Now, she only had herself to rely on. She could only hope against all reasoning that the vampire she had just met with believed her or didn't care enough to let her live.

"Fine," she muttered a response. "She just let me go."

"Of course she did," Tim responded, leading her through the white hallways and back towards the parking garage. Kerry wasn't sure, but it almost seemed as if they were taking an alternate route. Of course, all the halls looked the same, so she couldn't be certain of anything. "Did you think she was going to dispose of you in her office?"

"No," Kerry said quickly, feeling foolish for doing just that.

"If she was going to take you out, it wouldn't be here," his tone was almost joking. Kerry felt a shiver go down her spine at the warning undercurrent of his sentence. She just had this feeling that something was going to happen – very shortly at that. She hadn't been able to shake the notion that something life-changing was going to occur, and she hadn't been since walking into Club Vampyr the first time. She thought it would leave after Nelle's attack, but it had only gotten stronger. Maybe it was only left-over adrenalin and had nothing to do with what would happen in the future. For not the first time in the past 24 hours, she wished she had never agreed to walk through the doors of this club. She felt guilty for thinking such a selfish thing. Nelle may now have a future thanks to what happened.

If Tim's warning was correct, Kerry might not.

"Where would it be?" Kerry asked cautiously, looking around the hallway for someone who could possibly hear his answer, Despite the fact she didn't see a soul, that didn't mean he was open to talk either.

"Not here," he repeated.

Yeah, that was really helpful. She told him so. He merely shrugged. Kerry changed the subject. "So, do all these doors hide secret vampire quarters."

"We probably can't talk about that either," Tim told her apologetically, opening the door to the garage for her.

Kerry slipped through the opening, giving him a brief nod of thanks as well as understanding. His hands were tied, just as she thought hers were. They were both not talking out of loyalty to vampires, and both of them might just be misguided as far as others were concerned. The right thing to do was relative, and they all had choices to make. She understood that as a dying man might see the light as to why his life was over while those less deserving may get to live. "Is there anything I can ask that you have the answer to?" She asked as she opened the passenger seat to the car they arrived in before he could politely do it for you.

"I don't know," he told her honestly, starting up the SUV.

Instead of asking something about vampire politics, because she never got anywhere with those questions, or about the danger she was facing, she asked him a question which had been nagging her since she had met him. "When you and Nathaniel's mom were… dating, were you human?" She left half of the question out, because it didn't need to be said. Was he a vampire when Nathaniel was conceived? Kerry wanted to know. Vampire fertility was one of those questions Michel had never, or would ever, answer. Vampire virility, however, was an easy issue. No pun intended.

"Yes," he told her, driving out of the well-lit garage and into the yellow glow from evenly spaced streetlights.

"So vampires can't…?"

"Can't," Tim prompted.

"Reproduce."

Tim frowned, still carefully watching the road. She did not think the small change in his eyebrows and squint to his eyes was directed at his driving conditions. He didn't know how much he should tell her. "It's rare," he conceded.

But not impossible. That was interesting. She imagined that it all had to do with a few issues, such as whether the sperm was still swimming and eggs were still hatching. Maybe, the newer the vampire, the more chance there was. She didn't know. "When they do, what happens with the baby? Is it some kind of supervampire?"

Tim laughed, "you read too much."

Kerry thought it was strange that he said 'read' instead of the generational 'watch TV.' Of course, she had never found any good vampire facts off a television show or a movie, so he actually called it right. Truthfully, she had never found any good vampire facts at all. Michel discounted almost all the myths. Kerry forced a responding chuckle. "I probably do."

"You know, there has been one thing that has been bothering me about last night," Tim said conversationally, turning the corner of a street as if it were the only thing occupying his attention. If she didn't know any better, she would think he wasn't watching her for a reaction. She did know better – vampires never left their guard down.

"Only one?"

"You got me there," he said with a rueful grin. "Only one that I'll mention now, ok."

"Sure," Kerry shrugged. She wanted to know what else she did that was wrong. Maybe whatever he had to say could bring her closer to figuring out what the mysterious hiss had been about.

"You were wearing a cross."

What was suspicious about that? "Yeees," she replied wearily, drawing out the syllable of the word.

"But you didn't use it against the vampire attacking your friend." Still, he was focused on the road as if her answer meant nothing. "Vampire lore almost always gives the cross negative effects towards us. Because we're pure evil or something like that, so you should have instinctively used it as a weapon."

His point was valid. She hadn't used the cross because she knew it didn't work against vampires. It had been one of the first things she learned from the only vampire educator she had. "I didn't think of it," she replied honestly, clutching her hand to her chest where the ornament had rested 24 hours before. "Could I have saved Nelle?" Kerry whispered, hoping her quiet voice made her sound sincere. Darn Michel, she hadn't had to stretch the truth as much during her whole life as she did when he became a topic of conversation. Hopefully Tim would take the question as a sign she was ignorant and not the coverup it was.

"No," he told her, staring blankly into the dark windshield. She didn't know whether he was taking what she said at face value, or if he knew. "Crosses don't bother us."

"How about the word God?" She asked, just like she had asked Michel. The best way to sound like she didn't know anything was to recount the questions she asked when she hadn't known anything.

"No."

"Holy water?"

"No."

"Garlic?"

Tim snorted, "Definitely not. Though our noses are overly sensitive to that smell as well as others. It is unpleasant."

"Stakes through the heart?"

He remained quiet, not replying negatively immediately like he had the other occasions. "We're far harder to kill than humans. Wood doesn't have an adverse effect on us, no."

That wasn't the question she had asked, Kerry mused. When she had been with Michel, she would have been gleeful for finally getting an answer to something, and would have filed away 'stakes kill vampires' for future reference. Since she had almost seen Michel taken out with a gun, she didn't need that question answered either. Sure, Tim hadn't lied. It was more difficult to kill vampires, but it was not impossible if a bumbling, ignorant fool like Marsala could take out one, almost two, and what he thought to be three of them. "So," Kerry began, slightly changing the subject. She still wanted to grill him on vampirism, but didn't want to be obvious with these questions. "That boss woman of yours is really scary."

"She can be intimidating," he replied, "But she isn't my direct boss. You want scary, you should meet him," he smirked. "He can make your blood curdle with a single look."

No thanks, she'd pass on that one. His sentence opened up more questions that it did answers. How did the vampire chain of command work? "Sounds frightening," she agreed with him, staring out the window as they pulled up in front of her apartment building for the second time in two nights. "Thanks for the drive." She felt hollow. The moment she stepped out of this SUV, she would be exposed.

"Kerry," Tim stopped her as she reached for the door handle. With one of his hands resting on her shoulder to command attention, he fully turned to look at her for the first time since they got into the vehicle. "I mentioned him for a reason. You needn't fear Rachel's decision about the meeting; she really has no say in the end. The man I work for is one of our best assassins (look for better word. Enforcer?) and he knows you are lying."

Kerry's heart sped up.

"He said he'd give you this last chance to come forward before he took matters into his own hands. So is there something you want to tell me?"

Kerry's heart-rate accelerated, her mouth went dry, and her eyes started to water with fear. She couldn't tell, she just couldn't. She had kept the secret of Michel this far, not even knowing why she was doing it, and she couldn't give him up now. The meaning of 'I'll take his secret to my grave' was becoming a lot more serious. She didn't even know if he wanted her to do this. Did he even care whether the other vampires knew he had let her live? Would they perceive it as a weakness like she feared they would, or would he put a spin on it as he was wont to do? "No," she whispered.

"Then watch your back," Tim told her, taking his arm off her shoulder like he was revoking his support of her life.

"Why are you telling me this?" Kerry asked, the tears prominent in her eyes as her mind puzzled with new-found dread. Just what she needed, some internal vampire slayer deciding she needed to be tortured for information.

Tim smiled, both coldly and sympathetic at the same time. "He enjoys the hunt."

Kerry climbed down from the SUV, feeling numb. Was Michel worth this? Once, she may have thought so. When she first decided to protect him, it had only been because she didn't want Nathaniel to know she shared his blame, and didn't want to share a memory which was dear to her. It had just seemed like the right thing to do. Now, as she made the journey up to her bedroom, she just didn't know.

She'd never tell.

©RelenaFanel.July28.2006

Michel? Where art thou?


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note**: Sorry guys, I'm going through a bad week and it is showing in my writing, so Lure will **not **be updated this week. Ask me about my day at work, and I'll tell you a tale about a woman screaming at me in French that I hadn't given her back 30+ dollars when I had and my boss had already checked my cash and knew I had. Ask me how my writing is going and I have nothing to report. Maybe next week, though no promises. Instead, I bring you this. Luckily, it was already finished.

* * *

_**Club Vampyr**_

_Chapter 7._

Kerry arrived in her apartment, feeling as if she hadn't slept in days. Fear and emotional turmoil were pressing hard on her shoulders, making her want to buckle and break under the weight of her own mind. She remembered thinking she loved him, but it hadn't been enough then to make her stay, and it wasn't enough now for her to sacrifice her life. She'd get on the phone right now and spill her guts to the first vampire willing to listen – Tim's boss in particular – if she thought it would help. She had dug herself far too deep into this hole for the truth to do any good, and it amazed her that she hadn't really seen it coming until it was too late.

Who was she kidding? She wouldn't change a thing she had said or a single denial of her knowledge she had made. Even if she had spilled the beans about knowing a vampire named Michel, they would still want to know about her hiss, and still come to the wrong conclusion that she knew more than she was telling. Even worse, they might think he had information to give them. She didn't think she could protect Michel any more than she already had, but that wasn't true. All she could do now was protect herself.

Kerry looked around her apartment, hugging her arms around her middle. What should she do? She wanted to go home and immerse herself in the safe feeling of family, but that was the last thing she could do. She couldn't put Ian and her dad in danger like that, ever. They were more important to her than some vampire she had known for three days. Oh, God. Had she put them in danger already? She had been thinking of running away, maybe fleeing to Canada or something, but that would definitely be a risk to those she loved. She'd have to stand her ground.

What would Buffy do if a murderous vamp was after her? Kerry knew the answer to that one. A vampire slayer would grab herself some stakes, holy water, crosses, and that wooden bolt shooter thing she was so fond of. None of those would be any use to Kerry, because not only did she have no slayer weaponry, but real vampires were surprisingly impervious to most of their mythical weakness. She rushed into the kitchen, turning the light on as she went. Quickly, Kerry opened one of the drawers beside the sink and removed the paring knife. She wished she had something thicker and larger than that tiny blade, but her apartment wasn't exactly riddled with weaponry.

Carefully, she held the knife down by her side, flicking on the light to her hallway. The door to her bedroom was closed. She couldn't remember whether she had closed it before she left, but her heart was pounding so hard because of terror and adrenaline, she thought she was going to drop dead right there. Then it wouldn't matter whether the vampire inquisitor came for her or not, she'd already be pushing up the daisy. She hadn't ever felt this before, even with Ethan. Her own heart was betraying her with every beat, and the faster it went, the more she was scared to open the door. She knew a vampire couldn't miss her pulse sounding, and the more she dwelled on that knowledge, the more her own body was her own worst enemy.

Kerry reached out with her left hand, taking cues from the millions of cop shows on television, and turned the knob to her bedroom door. If anything popped out at her, she'd more likely pee herself than stab, but with the fear running through her veins, she felt vulnerable despite Tim's subtle assurances she should be fine for a while longer. The door creaked audibly, swinging open. Kerry's head started to go fuzzy from the amount of time she had been holding her breath. She really didn't think that was helping her heartbeat any, she realized as she exhaled with what she hoped was a quiet whoosh.

Not making a sound, she flattened herself against the doorjamb and glanced into the room. With a quick flick of her wrist Kerry turned on the light in her bedroom. She could see no one. Her room was set up in such a way that the only place a person of any substantial size could hide was in the closet. Her bed was one of those cheap dorm-roomesque ones with the drawers underneath, and she had that space filled with old text-books and clothes which weren't in season. Not even Ian could squeeze into the space left. The closet was definitely the only place available. For a second, she had the ridiculous notion to pick up the phone and dial Nathaniel. If she begged, he might come over and check the closets for her.

Unfortunately, her pride stopped her from doing so. Not only did she not want to be indebted to him, but she couldn't bear the thought of anyone seeing her terrified of a few shadows and bumps in the night. "Get a grip," she muttered to herself, disgusted at her own actions. She opened the door to her closet regardless, thoroughly checking behind a layer of long dresses to make sure there was no one in sight.

Kerry snorted at her own foolishness, gripping the knife in her hand so tightly the knuckles in her fingers began to ache. She felt wired, her eyes wide opened with anxiety. Despite the fact the past two days had been far more tiring and emotionally tolling than anything she had experienced in a long time, she didn't think she'd be able to sleep for hours. Kerry sat on the edge of her bed, supporting her elbows on her knees and letting her head fall into her upturned palms. She just wanted this all to be over. She hated the waiting. Were the vampires going to kill her? Send someone to torture her? Or would they finally realize that she had nothing more to offer her and just let her go? Kerry wished for the latter, but her instincts warned her it wasn't likely.

She sighed, feeling sorry for herself. She couldn't see an end in sight – or at least one which had a happy ending. She had the insane urge to phone her little brother, just for the comfort of his innocent, familiar voice. In a way, he was the one who had gotten her into this mess, what seemed like centuries ago. Would making contact right now put him in more danger than he already was in? Was she making too much of this whole situation and seeing a threat to herself and family when there wasn't one? She sighed again, worrying about everything.

Kerry glanced up from her slouched position, looking at the clock beside her bed. She had completely lost track of the time. It was now after midnight, and the last time she remembered knowing the time was around eight. Four hours had passed so quickly, and yet it felt as if it had been some of the longest hours of her life. She was vaguely surprised she had managed to live through the day. Regrettably, it was far too late for her to call home. She stretched, arching back in a stretch to put her weary muscles into use. For a second, she stared at her white ceiling and bright overhead light, letting her back tremble until she couldn't keep the position anymore.

Uncrossing her legs, Kerry stood off the bed and rummaged through her dirty clothes hamper for her pajamas. Usually, they were waiting on top for her to just grab them and put them on, but she had disrupted the messy organization of the bin earlier today as she searched for a lipgloss in the pocket of one of her pair of jeans. She easily located the baggy blue bottoms to the set, but the smaller tank top was more elusive. "Gotcha," she muttered to herself, yanking it out of a tangle with a sweater. She tossed it on to her bed, within easy reach, and changed out of the nice suit she had been wearing. She pulled on her wrinkled and rumpled (and maybe slightly smelly) night clothes and put her suit on a hanger.

She wasn't tired at all, but she still went through the motions of getting ready for bed. Even if she had to lie under the blankets for hours, staring at her ceiling and jumping at every noise, she was determined to get a little bit of sleep. Tomorrow she would figure out whether to run or stay.

After she used the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, she exited the bathroom and headed towards the front door to make sure it was locked. It escaped her notice, but the lights of every room she had entered since arriving back were blazing, dispelling most of the shadows usually covering every surface of life. The knife was still held by her side, as the secure and well-lit apartment didn't chase away all of her fears. Since the only room she hadn't checked was Nelle's, she knew she'd lie in bed and worry about it until she did make sure nothing was hiding under her roommate's bed or anything. Feeling foolish, Kerry turned the light on in Nelle's bedroom and gave it a once-over. It looked safe enough.

Kerry walked into the room, standing in the middle of it and wondering where there was to hide. She leaned over, balancing on one leg, and quickly checked under the bed. Nothing. God, she was such a baby. Quickly, she crossed the room and stood in front of the closet. Her heart-rate was accelerating again at the thought of flinging open the door to the unknown. She knew there were no murderous rapists hiding in Nelle's closet, just like there hadn't been any in hers. Bracing herself, Kerry slid the door open with a jerk of her wrist.

An emotionless face of a girl a bit older than herself stared back. Kerry gasped, her breath entering her lungs choppily as she went cold with fright. The girl smiled, showing a glint of fang.

Kerry screamed, the sound piercing through her the paralyzing fear. OhGodohGodohGodohGod. The vampire lunged out of the closet, intent on shutting her up. Kerry just reacted, working on instinct more than bravery or skill. The point of the almost-useless knife in her hand pierced through the girl's neck. It stopped her for merely a second, as the attacker felt her neck and pulled out the blade with a vicious yank. Kerry used that time to flee, already slamming Nelle's door behind her as she practically dove into the bathroom. She knew she wouldn't have time to make it towards the front door. The vampire was already in the hallway by the time Kerry managed to lock the flimsy bathroom door.

"Come on out, Kerry," the female vampire called sweetly. She knew her name, Kerry realized, making it impossible for her to deny that the attack was meant for her and just not some freak random coincidence.

Trembling, she clutched at her heart, wishing she could stop the noise, but thankful it was still beating. Her breath was coming in pants. She was going to die, here in the bathroom. She was cornered, and there was no way out. Kerry fell to her knees on the cold hard tiles, barely noticing the bruising jar she gave them. Flinging open the cupboard under the sink, she pulled out a basket of cleaning supplies. She was a resourceful girl, surely she could find a weapon to use through the panic addling her brain.

"Kerry!" Pounding came on the wall of the room she was huddled into, and for a second she thought she was surrounded. Then, she realized it was Nathaniel in the next apartment. "Are you ok?"

"Help!" She screamed, "Nate!"

The vampire on the other side of the door was shaking the panel of wood so violently, Kerry thought she was going to tear the whole thing off the hinges. She knew for a fact the door wasn't going to remain a barrier for much longer. Most likely, the vampire would just twist the doorknob violently enough that the lock would break. Instead, the hunter thrust her hand through the wood door, splinters digging deep bloody grooves into the feminine forearm.

Kerry screamed again, hoping she was waking up everyone in the apartment building. Maybe one of them would come help her. Human psychology being what it was, it was very doubtful any of them would even lift a finger. As she was screeching her terror, the vampire curled her arm around, dripping obscenely on the blue shower matt, and reached for the lock on the door to open it from the inside. Kerry snatched the bottle of peroxide from the supplies she had grabbed from under the sink and fumbled with the cap. She managed to twist it off, her numb fingers hindering her movements, and the cover bounced to the floor. At least it was off the bottle, she mused, as she ignored the fact she dropped it. With quaking hands, she emptied the bottle over the vampire's arm, hoping it stung the self-inflicted wounds enough to pause the attack. Maybe Nathaniel could find a way to help her, if she could just fend off this murderous vampire long enough.

The woman outside the bathroom howled in pain, yanking her arm out the opening.

The pounding in Kerry's ears became more pronounced. No, wait, that was someone at the front door. Her sense of relief was short-lived, however, when she realized she had both locked and chained the entrance. She was doomed. Nathaniel would never be able to get passed the safety chain.

"You're dead," the vampire hissed, now out for personal retribution instead of a methodical ordered assassination. Kerry wondered if this was Tim's boss. She was dead, she realized, the situation becoming more and more hopeless as it went on. She didn't even have any handy tricks ready when her attacker just broke the lock of the door like Kerry had predicted she would in the first place. The vampire had been toying with her, trying to maximize Kerry's fear. It had worked.

The bathroom door opened, almost in slow motion. Kerry groped behind her, knocking over the tray full of cleaners and bathroom supplies she had at her disposal. The various bottled clattered to the floor just as the female vampire took a menacing step into the room. Kerry whimpered, not able to see clearly through the tears of horror welling in her eyes. She wanted to beg for her life, but all that emerged from her lips was a helpless whine.

The vampire's grin was feral, promising a painful death. In that moment, it looked less than human, and yet so much more. The vampire reached for her with the undamaged arm. Kerry felt that strange and mysterious hiss bubble up from her lungs and spring forward through teeth bared like a threatened animal. Her assailant paused for one precious second, frowning and cocking her head to the right. Kerry closed her eyes, spraying wildly for the eyes with a bottle of hairspray as she ducked her head and tried to dive passed the killer in the doorway. The vampire let her get out of the bathroom, probably more out of sport than Kerry's own attack. Kerry found herself falling towards the floor in the hallway. She put out her arms, trying to brace herself as she landed. The vampire was immediately on her back, pulling her long brown hair up painfully. Scalp screaming in agony, Kerry saw lights pass before her eyes. This was her final moment, she knew, as the vampire prepared to rip her neck out and feast on her blood. She always thought her first vampire bite would come in a completely different situation.

An unearthly scream echoed through the apartment. Kerry didn't realize it wasn't coming from her until the weight off her back was gone and she was blessedly able to breathe again. She turned her head to the side, just lying on the carpet in a daze. Her blood was pounding through her body, but she couldn't summon the will to do much more than rest there. She felt an overwhelming sense of safety, despite the fact she didn't know where her attacker went, or who had saved her. She didn't know if she had just traded one hell for another. All she knew was that it felt over, and that was good enough for her at the moment.

A cold hand touched her shoulder, running over the curve until the palm was braced enough around the bone to turn her over. Kerry felt boneless as she flipped to her back, staring up at the light blaring on the ceiling. She didn't really understand what was happening. How was she still alive?

"Hey, Kerry."

* * *

.:grins:.

How many of you are squeeing right now?


	8. Chapter 8

Last time on Alias… I mean Club Vampyr.

_A cold hand touched her shoulder, running over the curve until the palm was braced enough around the bone to turn her over. Kerry felt boneless as she flipped to her back, staring up at the light blaring on the ceiling. She didn't really understand what was happening. How was she still alive?_

"_Hey, Kerry."_

Of course, you probably all remembered that, right? Being the chapter you were all waiting for and all.

**Club Vampyr**

**Chapter 8**

"Hey, Kerry." An achingly familiar voice said from above her. She blinked, trying to get rid of the annoying blurriness in her eyes. His beautiful blue eyes wavered in an out of focus, framed by the blackness of straight black hair. He was standing above her, back against the wall and arms crossed in front of his chest. She wondered if she had died and this was a cosmic joke of her idea of heaven.

"Michel," she whispered, voice catching in her throat. She turned on her side, bringing her knees to her chin to protect herself. She couldn't stop trembling. She was sure now that her hazy sight was caused by a steady stream of tears in her eyes. It hurt her eyes to continue staring up at him now that she was facing his feet, so she studied his shoes instead, needed to keep him within her sight. It took her a while, mind disjointed and sight distorted, to realize that the red smudge on his sneakers wasn't the Nike whoosh.

Kerry bolted to her feet, dodging passed his surprised grab, bypassing the body in the doorway of Nelle's room – though it really didn't help the matter – and somehow made it into the bathroom in time to vomit heavily into the toilet. For a moment, she thought she was going to faint from the dizziness swirling around in her head and fall in her own puke. Kerry braced one hand against the cool white porcelain toilet, shaking and dry-heaving. Her skin was slick from sweat, and she was sure this is what drug addicts going through withdrawal felt like. She almost jumped out of her own skin when she felt his cool hand rest briefly against her shoulder.

"At least you made it," he told her with a smirk apparent in his voice. She wasn't sure whether he was talking about her life or the incredible luck she had aiming for the toilet. She nodded once in polite agreement, reaching up to flush the water out of the toilet. It took her three tries before her hand successfully connected with the flusher. His hand was still on her shoulder when she finished, and he directed her towards the sink. "Come on."

"I'm ok," she told him, despite the fact he hadn't asked. He hadn't needed to as it was more than evident she was lying through her teeth to the both of them. Kerry stood in front of the bathroom sink, not able to look at her own reflection in the mirror. She was somewhat afraid of what she would see there. She briefly thought of turning on the water, but both her hands were gripping the edges of the counter so roughly her knuckles were white. It was likely she wouldn't be able to turn the knob anyway, so she just stared into the black hole of the drain.

Michel sighed, sounding slightly exasperated with her. He reached beyond her body, turning the cold water on with a quick, yet harsh, flick of his wrist. He stayed behind her, a silent source of strength as she quaked and tried to stand on her own.

"I'm ok," she said again, speaking to the bottom of the basin.

"No you aren't," he spoke softly and patiently. "Drink, you'll feel better." He didn't give her a choice on the matter, pressing down on her shoulder blade with a constant pressure and gentle guiding. Kerry obeyed, leaning over and bumping into him accidentally. She put her face under the tap, allowing the freezing water to flow into her mouth and rinse out the taste of death. She didn't swallow at first, waiting until her teeth were numb from the coldness. When she straightened back up to a standing position, she was able to turn the tap off on her own.

She looked into the mirror, only faintly surprised to see the tears still streaming down her face. She couldn't feel herself crying, but she couldn't seem to be able to turn them off. Michel was looking at her reflection over one shoulder, his black hair lending him the countenance of the dark shadow he was. She could still see him; maybe he really was here. "Thank you," she said, voice cracking as if it were dry and parched.

He didn't respond, and she didn't really give him time to. Kerry latched on to him as if she were afraid he would leave again. Finally, she started sobbing in earnest. He just let her, not trying to pry her off, but not making any moves to comfort her either. Her arms were tight around his waist and she was on tiptoe, eyes pressed against where his collarbone met his neck. He was tense, as if her sudden movement had shocked him.

"I'm sorry," she blubbered against his chest, not really sure what she was apologizing for. Maybe for needing him to save her, for her reaction afterwards and needing him to take care of her, for not being able to let go of him, or maybe it was for the wet collar of his shirt which was getting wetter by the minute. It could also be from the nicely sized splotch of drool she was positive she had put there too. Hey, crying was never a pretty sight.

"Are you going to let go of me soon?" He asked her, finally bringing an arm up to support her back. Geez, now that he was showing her the lovin', she wasn't sure she could ever let him go again. She tried, honestly, to ease the grip she had on him, but she couldn't. She knew she was in shock, but she hated the weaknesses she was showing him. She knew he didn't really expect her to be strong in a situation like this, but she expected it from herself.

"Sorry," she repeated with a sniff. Her small form was trembling from a combination of residual distress and muscle fatigue. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold the position she was in, but that wasn't enough deterrence to free him of her grasp.

"Ok," he said, the smile back in his voice. He was laughing at her again! Well, at least that was better than being annoyed, she realized, burrowing her nose against the neck of his shirt. She hoped it wasn't under a guise of wiping snot over him, but she couldn't really help that if it was. "Let's get you more comfortable, then."

She wanted to shake her head and tell him she was alright, but he wouldn't have listened to her anyway. He seemed quite adept at reading through everything she was telling him tonight. Easily, he lifted her enough to enable him to boost her onto the sink counter. Kerry moved with him, finally easing her death-hold on him long enough to take her arms from around his waist and put them around his neck. Her legs wrapped around his hips in a position which would have been naughty if it wasn't for the fact her muscles were still trembling uncontrollably. She had just come off the adrenaline high and barely had enough energy left to keep her eyes open. She was so cold.

He still wasn't really holding her, or making any overt movements to comfort her, but Kerry appreciated that he wasn't forcing her away. It might not be enough for her, but just being close to him was giving her strength.

"Kerry?" A male voice shouted from the other end of the hallway. Kerry recognized it to be Nathaniel, but she couldn't summon the energy to reply to him. She didn't really think how cruel it was to make him worry those last few seconds as he took in the destruction, violence, and body in the hall and bathroom entrance. "Ohmigod," he muttered, still not seeing her from where he stared down at the vampire Michel had killed.

She hadn't even thought of that. He had KILLED one of his own kind to save her life. It made her feel a bit nauseous again just to think of how close she had been to dying in her own apartment. Kerry's head was resting against Michel's shoulder like a sleeping baby would and his face was so close to her neck she could occasionally feel him exhale. Was this difficult for him, she wondered, having her jugular so close with the scent of blood still palpable in the air?

"Kerry!" Nathaniel yelped, shock evident in his voice as he stood in the doorway to the bathroom. Kerry turned her head slowly, blinking leisurely as she looked at his concerned face and rapidly-turning-normal hair. "Are you hurt?" He asked, eyes narrowing as he took in the appearance of the room and her leech impression on Michel.

"I'm ok," Kerry slurred, tongue thick with the need to sleep. To think, just half an hour before she had been convinced she would barely get any rest at all that night. One attack, adrenaline rush and crash, and marathon sobbing later, she was ready to hibernate for a few days.

Nathaniel looked at Michel suspiciously. "Did a vampire drink from you?"

Kerry grinned slightly, shaking her head no. Her chin rocked against Michel's shoulder. "Just sleepy."

"Let's get you to bed," Michel said, easily picking her up without shifting her. Kerry thought he just wanted to confront Nathaniel and couldn't really do it with his back turned. Or maybe that was the point – he didn't want his back turned to someone who sounded even the littlest bit hostile towards him.

"Mmhmm," Kerry agreed, letting her eyes drift shut. She felt so comfortable, even curled around him as she was. Maybe that was the point, he made her feel far safer right at this moment, even though it was evident that his peers were after her life, than she had felt in days. Michel was Michel, and despite all his threats and manipulations, he had really never did anything to harm her.

"Here, let me take her." Nathaniel stepped forward, reaching to take Kerry from Michel's hold. He obviously was not comfortable letting his friend stay in the arms of a vampire, especially one who had just killed one of his own kind.

Kerry screamed, jarring from where she had been almost asleep when Nathaniel's hand grabbed her waist. She flailed out, trying to fend him off as if he were attacking her. Michel pulled her closer, a move which looked like he was protecting her, but was mostly because she had lost her balance. Now that she was more awake, she felt foolish for being in Michel's arms like that. She wasn't a baby, or an invalid. She pressed her cheek into his shoulder, glaring at Nathaniel for ruining her contentment. Selfishly, she still didn't want to let him go. If she did that, he would know she really was ok, and would leave. She needed him.

"You better not have harmed her," Nathaniel threatened, knowing enough to stand out of Michel's way.

"Or you'll what? Sic daddy on me?" Michel replied sarcastically, pushing by the human man. It was almost a male posturing contest over a dead body in her hallway.

Michel walked her through the hallway easily, neither showing any signs of her being too heavy, or accidentally hitting her against the walls in the narrow pathway. Somehow, he managed to hold her in such a way that she couldn't see the body on the floor even though her eyes were wide open. She marveled at him, not just because of his strength and obvious superiority to human males, but because he was actually there.

"I'm tired," she told him in a whisper as he paused to open her bedroom door. "I just want to sleep." Her eyes were wide opened, and though she felt cold and exhausted, she knew she would never be able to sleep tonight out of fear. She couldn't help but remember the time he had put her to sleep in the car, and though he said he couldn't do it to just anyone, she felt inclined towards it and was definitely no longer running on adrenalin. According to everything he had told her four years ago, the only thing missing was his willingness to help. "Can you do it?" She asked. Wondering, but not positive, if he had already been trying for the past five minutes.

He didn't answer her until he slid into the doorway to her bedroom. Kerry didn't even pause to wonder how he had known which one was hers. Later, she would just assume it was part of his mysterious persona. Quietly, he slid her onto the bed. "Breathe," he told her. "You're still a bit too wired."

She nodded, accepting this. She scooted over in the bed, in case he wanted to sit down beside her. He took her up on the silent offer. It was a strangely intimate scene, not as it would be between lovers, but rather two people who knew each other and were comfortable enough with silence as well as speech in order to communicate.

"In and out. Relax." His voice grew soft and calm, almost mesmerizing to her. She inhaled, and exhaled, trying to think calming thoughts. She thought of him. She could already feel her brain starting to drift off, even though her eyes were open. The effects of Michel's powers were like a strong drug, making her fuzzy and almost giddy all at once. Nathaniel had followed them into the bedroom, and was standing guard at the door like a sentry making sure the prisoners didn't escape or get up to any mischief. The suspicious and resentful expression on his face fit the simile well.

"You're doing good," Michel told her, dragging her attention back to him, though it hadn't strayed for long. She didn't know whether he meant she was doing a good job calming herself so he could work his influence, or if her mind was so weak he was able to slip passed all her defenses easily and control her. Kerry looked into his eyes, and the blue orbs seemed the melt, dance and surround her. Her eyelashes fluttered closed and she was asleep, just as the front door opened and slammed shut.

"_Is she ok?" Tim asked, voice quiet. Kerry had the distinct impression, even though she thought she was sleeping, that the three males were standing over her bed watching her._

"_She will be," Nathaniel answered, frustrated. "No thanks to you. Did you walk or something? Glad to know you're around to protect us, dad." His footsteps left the room, and maybe the apartment. Kerry wasn't sure how she knew, but she thought Tim was now left with Michel._

"_I…"_

"_How is anyone supposed to find out what secrets she's hiding if you can't keep her alive?" Though she was sure she was dreaming, Kerry knew that was a strange thing for Michel to be saying._

"_The order had been retracted. She shouldn't have been in any harm."_

_Michel didn't say anything in return. His disapproval was heavy on the air._

"_All sects have been informed that she isn't to be touched in any way until the information is obtained." Tim rushed to fill the silence._

"_Good. Get rid of the body. Make sure there is no evidence left."_

"_You're the boss."_

©RelenaFanel.Aug25.2006

I Lub Michel. Hands up all who agree. .:cough:. I mean, review all who agree.


	9. Chapter 9

**Club Vampyr**

Chapter 9

* * *

_Who is this irresistible creature who has an insatiable love for the dead?_

* * *

Kerry awoke the next morning feeling far more rested than she had felt for what seemed like a long time. There must be something about vampire-induced comas which allowed the body and mind to enjoy the benefits of sleep, she mused. The first thing she did was smile, because Michel was back, saving her life and all. She deliberately recalled the feeling of his solid form against her, and even though her actions were humiliating, she still relished the fact he hadn't pushed her away. Michel may not have gone all mushy-romantic on her and whispered how glad he was she was alive, or promised to always take care of her, but she still knew that he cared a little bit – even if it wasn't as much as she wished it could be. His returned presence filled her heart with glee, despite the fact he was nowhere to be seen in the morning light. 

_He was back_. She knew she'd be breaking into a goofy grin at seemingly random points in the day. Back and saving her life. There was something more there that she knew she should focus on, think about, and realize that she was ignoring an entire point of his reasoning, but she couldn't bring herself to care over the euphoria. He was in her life, and though she had grabbed on to him as if he had never left, she wasn't naïve enough to think they didn't have a far way to go before they were… something. Nothing could ruin her mood and good cheer.

Except for, perhaps, the conversation she had overheard as she drifted off to sleep. The idea that Michel could be the boss counteracted with her happiness, and she walked out of her bedroom looking as somber as ever. She needed to pee, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to face the bathroom. What had Tim said about Michel being the boss? Was that true? Did he just mean that her vampire, not-quite boyfriend was this assassin and information retriever sent to find out what secrets she was still keeping? Or did it mean that Michel was just higher on whatever vampire hierarchy there was. Kerry glanced down the hallway, noting the absence of a body or blood in her hallway. That was a good thing. The memory of Regina's burned body on the scorched mattress made her wish she didn't know whether dead vampire flesh burned on contact with the sun or not, but this was one of those times she had more knowledge than a normal teenage girl should. Someone had taken care of the body, just like the voices in her dream had promised, which was good because she wasn't too particular to the idea of losing her safety deposit because of spontaneous combustion.

She walked into her kitchen, jerking open the stubborn fridge door in search for something to drink. She could have sworn she made orange juice yesterday, but if she had, it was not in the refrigerator. She shut the door with more force than necessary and stumbled into the living room.

"Morning," Nathaniel muttered, looking far less rested than she was. Ha, Kerry thought somewhat vindictively, his dad hadn't influenced him into having a good night sleep. Nathaniel raised a tall glass of orange juice to his lips and finished it off with a long gulp. A trail of it dribbled off his chin and splotched on a white Tommy Hilfiger shirt. He tended to wear his brand-named clothes around the house during his anti-consumerism phases so no one in the outside world could call him a hypocrite.

"OJ stealer," Kerry muttered, walking closer to the front window so she could survey the day and watch the people below for a moment. As she neared the unblocked windows, the sun warmed her body, particularly one spot on the hem of her tank top. The cloth sizzled, not quite bursting into flames, but smoking and smelling like a string being deliberately burned by a lighter. "Balls!" Kerry yelled, jumping out of the direct line of sun. Immediately she put a hand over her mouth for that particular curse and turned, wide-eyed, to see if there was any possible way Nathaniel had missed it.

He was smirking at her. Guess he hadn't.

Kerry glared in return, since most of the offensive sayings and curse-words in her vocabulary were thanks to his randomness. She stomped into her bedroom to change and assess the damage to her pajamas. She could remembered that when she and Michel had come out of that closet at sunset, the places where his blood had fallen were burned. She was just lucky there hadn't been more vampire blood on her, or she might have had more problems than she already did – namely third degree burns. Kerry threw on an old worn sweater, not quite ready to face the day with a new set of clothing, and definitely not prepared yet to tackle her bathroom for a shower.

"What are you doing here?" She asked Nathaniel, heading back into the kitchen to grab an apple from the fridge now that she knew she didn't actually have orange juice.

"Waiting for you to wake up," he told her.

"Oh?" She sat across from him at the table. The scene was surprisingly homey. Usually, Nathaniel ate standing up or sitting in one of the chairs in front of the television. It wasn't often she found him being polite enough to use dishes and eat at the dining table. Even if it was her food. "You don't really need to worry about me. I'm fine," she promised.

Nathaniel crossed his arms in front of his chest. "That isn't really what we need to talk about."

"Uh oh," she said. She thought she knew where this was going. It was rather obvious, after her behavior last night, that she had deliberately mislead him into thinking she didn't know a thing about vampires. The bat was pretty much out of the bag now, even though she still didn't want anyone to know about Michel. It was harder to hide his presence when he was an actual, physical person walking around her apartment and saving her life from psycho vampires.

"Yeah, uh oh." He mimicked her, his tone somewhat snide. That wasn't quite what bothered her, however. He seemed to be hiding the fact he was furious behind neutral, clipped words. She couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. "Exactly how long have you been fucking a vampire?"

Kerry's eyes widened in shock, not at his language, but at the fact he perceived more than there had been. "I'm not." She told him the truth, and for the second time in twenty-four hours, it was taken as a lie.

"Don't give me that, Kerry! You were practically hanging all over him." Nathaniel's eyes narrowed as he watched her reaction. Instead of looking nervous or guilty, she stared him right in the eye and dared him to continue thinking she was lying.

"Do you blame me?" She asked, adding a bit of levity into the conversation and hoping it would break through his anger. "He's really hot."

"Kerry," Nathaniel warned. "You've been edging around this conversation for days. Do you realize you almost died last night? Just tell me, are you or are you not in a relationship with that guy last night."

"No." Kerry told him, thankful she didn't have to lie. "We aren't together."

"But you know him?"

Kerry didn't answer his question.

Nathaniel slapped his open hand down on the table. The uneven legs caused it to wobble dangerously, and for a second she thought he might have broken it with the force of his anger. She couldn't blame him, he was entirely justified. She winced as he gave words to his next question. "So you're what? His favourite little snack?"

"No," she denied. She wasn't his anything. Why couldn't Nathaniel just leave it alone.

"Believe me, a vampire wouldn't act the way he did unless he was getting a little something in return." Nathaniel's bitterness and cynicism were out full-force now, and Kerry felt the bite of his insult sharper than the vampire fangs she had almost been bitten with the night before.

"He's not like that," she hissed, not as bothered with his insults on her own character as she was by the unjust ones on Michel. She deserved what Nathaniel said about her. "He never drank from me, or forced me to do something I didn't want. We didn't have sex, and when I begged him not to, he didn't change me. He's far more noble than you give him credit for."

Nathaniel snorted, but Kerry could see him musing over everything she had said. Upon reflection, she had given him far, far more information than she had meant to. He now knew Kerry had once had the option to be a vampire, as well as everything else involved. His eyes cleared, becoming more curious than angry, and full of pity instead of resentment. He never had been able to hold on to anger for long. "It sounds like you hero-worship him."

"I loved him," she whispered, toying with the lace at the edges of the place-mats. For a second after her confessions, she wasn't able to summon the courage to look Nathaniel in the eye. When she finally did, he looked vaguely surprised. "And believe me, he didn't give me many reasons to do so. He lied to me, tricked me, manipulated me, used me, turned me into a felon, threatened my life constantly, played with my feelings, and was mostly one of the most detestable people I've ever met. He was no hero."

"But you love him?" Nathaniel was now leaning forward on the table, as if she was telling him a spellbinding story.

"Despite everything he was – he taught me a lot of what I know today. And I'm not just talking about the vampire stuff. He opened my eyes and helped me really see the world." Kerry finished off, her voice becoming rather wistful. Now that he was back, she wondered how life would progress. One good thing coming out of this conversation with Nathaniel was she was finally able to put words to the emotions and thoughts which had been swirling around in her head for years. This was the first time she had ever talked about it, and now that she started, she could feel the floodgates opening up.

"Past tense?" He asked, that frown playing along his eyebrows again.

"What?"

"You keep referring to him in past tense, as if the relationship is over."

"Because it is." Kerry had a moment of confusion, wondering what he wasn't following along with. "Oh! You still think Michel and I are a current thing. I haven't seen him in almost four years. He's Ethan Bryne." She watched his face as he connected the dots. Nelle had once gotten her to tell Nathaniel the severely edited version of the kidnapping story. Kerry hated repeating it, since none of it was true. The most challenging and nerve-wracking time had been at the police station, as one slip-up or inconsistence might have landed her in jail on murder charges.

"The boy who was kidnapped with you?" Nathaniel asked.

"No," Kerry informed him, starting to tell the true story. "The vampire I had met the night before and helped escape from hunters. You see, it all started with Ian and his stuffed koala Footy…"

After she finished recalling the first night, Nathaniel put a hand up to stop her from continuing. "Hold on. How many nights are there?"

"Three," she answered promptly. After a moment's hesitation, she continued. "Well, kinda four." She thought he was going to tell her he didn't want to hear it anymore. Kerry was somewhat disappointed. After keeping it a secret for all of her later teenage years, she was finally telling someone about everything that happened to her. And not just anyone, someone who would believe everything she had to say about vampires, and probably wouldn't endanger Michel. Well, that last one was iffy, but she'd deal with that possibility later. Now, he was about to say something to put her off from ever finishing it.

"If it's that long of a story, I need food." Nathaniel said instead. Kerry was surprised at how relieved she was.

"You just ate!" Kerry couldn't help but point out. He had finished off a whole thing of orange juice, minus the glass she had yesterday. She was sure that if she checked, half her cereal and the froot roll-ups she kept for an emergency would be gone too.

"I mean real food. Like chips. You don't have anything like that here, since both of you eat like squirrels." They both sat still for a second, thinking about Nelle. It would be unlikely she would ever eat human food again. Finally, Nathaniel stood up. "Let's move the partay over to my place."

Kerry followed him to the door. It was perfectly fine by her. She really needed to pee anyway. Her bathroom would probably be haunted by ghosts, real or not depending on vampires and spirits, for a long, long time.

"You know," Kerry told him, her voice subdued with the gravity of what she had to say. "I found out for sure that Nelle's a vampire yesterday."

Nathaniel looked at her sharply, both relieved and suspicious. He missed fitting the key into the lock on his door twice. Kerry was surprised he even locked it. Most times when he was over at her apartment, he didn't bother burglar-proofing his place. "Your boyfriend tell you that?" He asked, the old resentment echoing through his voice.

"No. The manager chick at Club Vamp did. Before she send someone to kill me."

"Right. Forgot you were forced in yesterday." Nathaniel sounded rather contrite for someone who was about to take her head off again.

"The fact I almost died makes you forget the important things, I guess." Kerry responded, sounding weary of all this vampire business. She knew they were in for a long, long time ahead of them.

Nathaniel went into his kitchen and after running to the bathroom Kerry continued walking into his living room. His apartment was almost a mirror image of her own, according to the blueprints, but in reality the mess made it difficult to tell. She perched herself on his ugly, old, man-couch, as he liked to call it, and hoped there weren't any moldy slices of pizza getting ready to attack. "Tell me more about this Ethan character." He returned and handed her a can of rootbeer and her own bag of chips.

Kerry smiled her thanks, both for the food and his desire to listen. "After the first night, I thought I would never see his cute, middle-age-skank-lovin butt again. Never again must be getting to be shorter and shorter, because the next night after work, my dad wasn't on time to pick me up…" He had heard this part before, as it was the only time she had been able to tell the truth. She continued purging her soul to Nathaniel, far after the clock struck the noon hour and he forced her to make him a sandwich. "… and then I walked home."

"He let you go?" Nathaniel asked, completely entranced by her tale.

"Yes," Kerry replied, the answer tinged with sadness. It was one of those moments in her life, where she thought back and wondered 'what if?' What if her mom had never left? What if she had decided to go to another university instead of this one? What if Nelle had never gotten sick? What if she had taken what Michel offered? It was the big one, and even though she swore she never regretted it, sometimes she secretly did.

"Just like that?" He snapped his fingers to make his point.

"Just like that," she echoed. "I saved his life. He didn't really want to turn me anyway. He was only responding to what he perceived to be my motivations."

Nathaniel shook his head in disbelief. "You might be right."

She might be wrong? She wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure if that's what he was implying. Plus, she didn't think she really wanted to know. Denial was a wonderful thing when it came to her non-relationship with Michel.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just… needed to protect him. It just seems so stupid to put him in danger through a few careless words after I did so much to save his life."

Nathaniel, on the other side of his gross couch, pondered that for a second. "Surprisingly," he told her. "I understand. I was furious at you for not saying anything the other night when I thought I was guilty for Nelle's… attack. But I think I get it. You know, vampires usually don't need humans to look after them."

"No," Kerry admitted. "He doesn't need me for anything, but I couldn't just betray him like that. I guess I was protecting myself too. I hate feeling inadequate, and this was it was like I was doing something for him."

He nodded. "I'm going to try not to yell at you, hon, but I need you to know that I'm not a hundred percent pleased with you at the moment." Nathaniel told her somberly. Then, a big grin broke out on his face. "So, do vampires have as great sexual prowess as people say?"

Kerry couldn't help but smile back at him. "I dunno. Why don't you ask your mom?"

He grimaced back at her. "Oh, buuuurn. As far as I'm concerned, my parents haven't been together since I was consummated."

"Oh yeah?" Kerry asked, not able to resist a few more digs. "Vampires don't care so much for the visible age difference. Plus, I know for a fact that moms enjoy younger men to make themselves feel more youthful." Ok, that was more painful to herself than funny. Next time, she'd just stick to making fun of his mom instead of bringing hers into the picture. She might not think of the rhymes-with-witch so much anymore, but it was still a sore spot to her entire family.

"Shhhh," Nathaniel said, sensing her discomfort like a surprisingly good friend. He held his finger up to his mouth in a mock gesture. "As far as I'm concerned, my dad is playing sucky-face with single drunk girls."

"You mean like the girl you hooked it up with last week?" Kerry said, getting another zinger in on him. Kerry 2. Nathaniel 0.

"Possibly. Same as your boyfriend is."

"He isn't my boyfriend," Kerry pointed out, willing to give him a point for that one. It wasn't as personal an affront as what she said to him, but it still didn't make her happy to think of all the girls Ethan had used as food and fun over the years. The only thing she could really do was change the subject, before she said something really mean in retribution that she would regret later. "It must be kind of cool having a dad who is a vampire, though."

Nathaniel lost the intense look he got while trying to be witty and match her insults, and thought about that, looking slightly saddened. "Before I was old enough to find out, I only saw him every once and a while. Mostly in the winter, because, you know, the darkness issue. For the first month after he told me what he was, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I went around the house grinning because I had a secret. Then, I told some friends of mine, thinking it would up my cool factor. Luckily, they thought I was making it up, so my dad didn't have to kill me or anything, but that's when I realized it was more of a burden than anything."

"You can talk to me about it now," Kerry said in a quiet, comforting voice. "Nelle, too, but she might have her own problems dealing the change for a while."

"And you don't have problems?" Nathaniel snorted, picking at a loose button on his couch. "Vampires are trying to kill you. The one who is now assigned to extracting information out of you is actually your deepest, darkest secret. And…"

"So Ethan _is_ your dad's boss?" She barely even noticed she had reverted back to calling him by the first name she had learned. She had only called him Michel to his face once and it had been the last word she had ever said to him before last night, but she had gotten used to referring to him that way in her mind. "That assassin guy he was talking about yesterday."

"I dunno about that, but I do know that dad answers to him. Last night after your boyfriend put you to bed, you should have seen my dad answering to orders and 'yessir'ing and 'nosir'ing all over the place." Nathaniel sounded bitter, and Kerry realized that he really was having trouble seeing his father as a man who took orders instead of giving them. She didn't even bother correcting him on the boyfriend thing again.

"Thank him for removing the body for me. I don't think I could have dealt with it in the morning. Especially if it combusted."

"See." Nathaniel told her. "That's the type of information that gets you in trouble. When you asked that Ethan guy to put you to sleep last night was when I knew for sure that you knew about him being a vampire. Before that, I thought you were in a relationship with him and just wasn't aware of what he was." Nathaniel, while his English wasn't always the best, was always bluntly honest with what he wanted to say.

"I guess me slapping you away gave the appearance that we were in one," Kerry agreed. "But how did you know what he was?"

"Fangs." Nathaniel's eyebrows were drawn together in thought. Kerry wasn't sure whether he was trying to remember the exact moment, or if he was struggling with his displeasure with her. "He bared them at me right after you almost fell. Like he blamed me for the incident and was guarding you from a threat."

Kerry remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"Now that I know the story, it's actually pretty hot." Nathaniel continued, not perturbed in the least that she hadn't said anything. He was used to dominating conversations. He grinned at her knowingly.

She looked at him sharply, not able to answer with anything other than sarcasm. "Thanks."

"It's true," he told her, looking innocent. "I thought he was screwing you blind, but now I know he just wants to get in your pants."

"Nathaniel!" Kerry screeched, horrified but slightly pleased by the idea.

"Or maybe it's you who wants to get into his pants." He grinned. "I don't blame you. I bet he's been around long enough to know exactly how to…"

"Do you want me to make you another sandwich?" Kerry asked, desperate to change the topic and stop the blush from creeping along her cheeks. The boy was incorrigible. He just grinned at her, and she realized that if she was still keeping score of the conversation, he had just made a move which won him this round.

"Nah," he told her, and she was actually surprised he was turning down food. "Supper will be in a few and dad is taking me to one of those all-you-can-eat Chinese joints."

Kerry lifted an eyebrow, impressed by the thought of all that food. It didn't take her long before she realized she had spent the entire afternoon talking to her goofy neighbor and it was almost time for the sun to set. "Is it that late?" She asked.

"Why? Do you have a date with your boyfriend?"

Kerry fumed, getting tired of him calling Michel her 'boyfriend' in that gentle-teasing, almost snide tone. She knew what he was doing. If she kept denying it, he'd say something like 'thou doth protestest overtlymuchus' and though she would roll her eyes at his Shakespeare mutilation, he would have backed her into a corner she wouldn't be able to talk her way out of. If she ignored him, like she was tempted, he would tell her she didn't deny it, so it must be true. Sneaky bugger. "I dunno. Maybe I'll never see him again."

"Yeah, about that." Nathaniel looked sheepish, grinning like a little boy who had gotten caught stealing icing from a cake. "You are being brought back into the Club Vamp offices tonight for more questioning. Apparently they're getting the information retrieval assassin guy to hound you. Sorry. I forgot to tell you."

Kerry took a shaky breath, pinching the bridge of her nose with an expression that was more wary than frightened. "The guy your dad says is his boss. So that means it might be Ethan. Probably," she corrected herself. "Probably is Ethan."

Nathaniel only shrugged.

Kerry hoped it was Ethan, because then she wouldn't have to worry about what she said. He would likely think up some flawless cover story, and then the vampires would get their answers and stop trying to do away with her. If it wasn't him, then she didn't know what she would do. She'd be better off dead than trying to outwit someone who tortured other vampires and then killed them for a living. She needed to think about her strategies, and in order to do that she needed to be alone and relaxed. Most of the time, she did her best thinking in the shower, but she was still not going anywhere near her bathroom for the next couple of days if she could help it. "Can I use your shower?" She asked Nathaniel, willing to risk the gross man-scuzz he probably had layered in the tub.

He looked surprised, but then understanding flooded his features just as he was opening his mouth to say something, likely dirty or sarcastic, to her. "Sure."

Kerry nodded her thanks, running over to her own apartment for a towel. She might be willing to risk the tub, but there was no way she was drying herself with one of his questionable towels.

©RelenaFanel.September23.2006

Just because I'm probably lacking in the disclaimer department, the quote above belongs to the song Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie. Also, Companions of the Night isn't mine, no matter how many of you think I'm secretly VVV herself.


	10. Chapter 10

**Club Vampire**

_Chapter 10_

.x.

.xXx.

.x.

_'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun,  
Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won.  
So I took what's mine by eternal right.  
Took your soul out into the night._

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Her shower was lengthy, movements turning lethargic in the growing steam of the small bathroom. Absently, she stroked her fingers through her hair, conditioner rubbing through the locks and smoothing out tangles caused by the attack the night before. It had taken her far longer than she wished to acknowledge to rinse the caked blood out of her brown hair, and it was far more disconcerting to realize that all of it was hers. She hadn't noticed the small knot on the side of her head bleeding the night before, but then again, she hadn't been in the best of minds. She had thought to prolong the shower in order to think up a game-plan for the next visit to Club vamp, but instead her mind kept circling around her fear from the night before, Michel's sudden reappearance back into her life, and their reactions to each other. She was so very aware how much she still trusted him, and felt that familiar ache when he wasn't by her side. It had taken her more than a year to condition herself out of wishing for his presence at every waken moment the last time he had left. How long would it take her this time?

She did manage to put her thoughts back on track every time she was motivated enough to reach for another bottle of soap. When her body was in motion, she was reminded that she had other things to do other than dream about blue eyes and fangs flashing in an amused grin. She wished she knew what else they could possibly ask her. These visits to the back of the club, and the surrounding underground network, were getting to be a daily occurrence. The vampires now had their main answer retriever ready to whip it out of her, or whatever he was going to do, and she was still no closer to being able to give them the answers they wanted.

Kerry was hardly foolish enough to fall for the same thing twice. She knew this meeting was going to be more about her interaction with the murdering female vampire in terms of the damnable hiss, rather than anything she had unwittingly said or done to disclose the presence of a vampire in her life. Sure, she hadn't taken out her cross and threatened Nelle's attacker with it, and yes, she had managed to negotiate Nelle's change after her best friend had been deemed dead, but Kerry knew that the vampires weren't really concerned with that. She wondered how she ever could have believed that the problem had been there.

They were bothered by the fact Kerry had made a woman probably triple her strength cringe away in fear with only a simple hiss. If she could do that, then what else could she do that was a possible threat? Kerry didn't have the answers, but this time she wasn't planning on lying when she said that. She could only hope that her hypothesis that she was actually going to meet Michel, who was this assassin boss guy, rather than some nameless, threatening vampire with no interest in maintaining her life other than to extract information.

Yay! Michel was back. She still couldn't help but let a foolish little grin break out, changing her countenance from worry and anxiety to a pleased, knowing smile.

"Kerry! Geez!" She was interrupted from her musings by Nathaniel pounding on the door. For a second, the sharp sound shocked her into thinking she was back in her own bathroom, being attacked. She quickly compressed the urge to cringe away and hide, as she hadn't even been chicken enough to do that in the real situation.

"What?" She shouted back.

"I need to pee and you've been in there forever!" Nathaniel's male voice whined through the wood door, and it wasn't the first time, or likely even the last, that Kerry sighed in exasperation at her friend who was sometimes more like an elder brother. An annoying, overbearing, and a bunch of other similar adjectives, older brother.

"Fine. Gimme a minute," Kerry called back out to him as she turned off the hot water and stepped out of the tub. She forgot that she wasn't in her own apartment for a moment, as the bathrooms were almost mirror images of each other, and almost lost her balance as her foot connected with damp tiled floor instead of the regular bathmat.

"I'll just go over and pee in your toilet," Nathaniel muttered through the door. Kerry assumed he did just that, but she wouldn't put it passed him to stay outside the door and try to hear her dry off.

Ok, she really didn't think he would do that, but the notion both amused and reminded her that he was still an unknown, no matter how friendly they were to each other. She quickly ran her towel over her body and hair, taking care not to agitate the wound on her scalp. She was more and more impressed with the way Michel had treated her the night before. She had been bleeding nutritious food, maybe all over him, and had practically shoved it in his face. So what if he hadn't really held her? He hadn't started to lick her like a human lollipop either.

Kerry was about to use her towel to wipe the mirror off like usual, when she remembered once again that it wasn't her mirror. Who knew what kind of Nathaniel cooties could be adhering to every surface of the room. Visibly, she could see remnants of almost every color he had ever dyed his hair splashed against the shower curtain, so who knew what she couldn't see. She was not going to contaminate her towel any more than necessary and the idea of yanking his from the rack in order to use almost made her shiver with revulsion. Was staying out of her own bathroom worth all this pain? Probably not. She used toilet paper instead.

Kerry's eyes were still slightly red and bloodshot from two nights of heavy crying. She leaned closer into the mirror, pulling at the skin under her eye in order to get a better look. They were no longer puffy, though she was sure they had been before her restorative shower. Other than that, there were no signs of stress on her face. It was a miracle, and she knew it was all due to Michel's help in putting her to sleep. He was better than a sleeping pill. If she only he was in her bed every night, she might not get much sleep, but she was sure that after he wore her out she wouldn't mind, and really, that thought had nothing to do with his powers and everything to do with his prowess.

She really did hope to see him again tonight.

Grabbing her clothing out of a bag hanging on the back of the door, she slipped on her underwear and then pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater over them. She had considered wearing something slinkier so she could look better for a certain vampire, but then she liked living a bit too much and knew that walking into a vampire lair with her neck showing was probably asking for trouble.

"Wow. He's going to melt when he sees you," Nathaniel told her, sparing her a glance from the corner of his eye from where he was reading a naughty magazine. Sometimes, she thought he was her sarcastic conscious.

"Shut up," Kerry muttered under her breathe, loitering around his hallway with her hands tucked into her front pockets. She rocked back on her heel, biting her bottom lip and wondering if she wanted to interrupt him mid-Maxim. "Is your dad going to drive me again today?"

"Dunno," he replied, not sparing her another glance.

"You're sucha guy sometimes." Kerry told him. The insult was in what she hadn't said. Sometimes, he was also such a girl.

"You too," Nathaniel told her, still not bothering to look up from his smut.

"Her boobs are fake," Kerry informed him, not bothering to even look at the picture.

"I wasn't looking at her boobs."

That wasn't exactly information Kerry needed to know. She slouched back into the well-worn seats of the brown couch and idly wondered if it had always been brown or if that was just a byproduct of belonging to a slob like Nathaniel. She didn't think she really wanted to know, just like she had no inclination to know what the yellow smear she was sitting on was from. "You know, you could use a new couch," she told Nathaniel, just attempting to make conversation to stop herself from thinking about all her problems, and all the problems her friends had. Nathaniel was right. She was a worrier.

"Yeah, and maybe you could buy me a new TV while you are at it."

Kerry snorted at him. She was interrupted from saying something scathing in response by a knock on the door. "I'll get it," she said, jumping up and heading for the door before Nathaniel could look up from his naughty magazine. She glanced briefly through the peephole, automatically opening the door the moment she say Tim standing impatiently on the other side.

"Are you nuts!" He said to her as a greeting. "Someone tried to kill you last night and you're opening the door. No safety latch either."

Kerry shrugged, not willing to argue with the man who both reminded her of her own dad and was a vampire. It was like he was guaranteed to be doubly right. She didn't think that was the case, but she knew better than to say something when he would only shoot her down. "Are you going to drive me again, or…" Kerry trailed off, hoping he could take up the prompt and fill her in.

"Right," Tim said as if he were just remembering that she needed to get to Club Vamp at some point that night. "The boss wants to see you. I think I'm supposed to drive you."

"Ok," Kerry said, glad that was cleared up. Tim continued walking passed her, into the living room. "Come on, Boyo." He told his son, slapping the magazine out of Nathaniel's hand. "Stop mentally wanking off so we can leave."

Nathaniel grumbled.

Tim, who was in a surprisingly good mood for a vampire about to watch his son stuff enough food down his throat to feed a small third-world country, grinned cheerfully. Kerry didn't think it was one of the false emotions she had noticed Ethan adopting. He was genuinely pleased to be spending time with Nathaniel. It was rather sweet. "I just have to drop Kerry off, then you can dribble your balls with all the sour sauce you want."

Kerry turned away, both wincing and hiding an amused grin at the same time. Well, it was rather obvious where Nathaniel got his perchance for dirty jokes.

"That wasn't funny," Nathaniel griped, standing up giving his father a mock glare. Tim gestured towards the door with his head, ordering his son to hurry up. Kerry was pleased to see such family dynamics between the two of them. She opened the door, holding it open for the two relatives to slip through as they continued to bicker with each other good naturedly. The elevator ride down was punctuated with Nathaniel pressing the buttons to the floor they were on as soon as they passed it. Once, he accidentally hit the button too soon and the doors dinged open. Kerry reached over and pressed her finger against the close-door button, frowning at Nathaniel for his immature antics.

"Shot gun!!" Nathaniel called out the moment they were in the lobby.

Kerry let him have the front seat again. Small things amuse small minds, after all. This time, as Tim drove, she was able to pay enough attention to get the gist of all the twists and turns she would have to make if she ever ended up driving it herself. After she had figured out that the mysterious hallways and clean parking garage were behind the club she, Nathaniel, and Nelle had visited just two nights ago, it was far easier for her to follow the route Tim used. She had always been rather keen with directions.

It seemed to take Tim less time than usual to arrive at the destination. She found herself cringing at the abnormally white garage, and knew that it would be one of those things she would start to hate with no reason other than bad mental associations. Her stomach was starting to churn from nerves and dread again, and she hoped she didn't have to rush for the plant-holders again. Tim pulled to a stop in front of the entrance, and Kerry just stared at the door in trepidation.

"You'll be ok," Tim told her reassuringly. Since it was the first time he had ever said anything comforting to her, she figured he knew something she didn't, and immediately relaxed. Maybe, the thought she had been entertaining of Michel being the boss was actually true. A short man in a business-suit met her at the door, and politely requested that she follow him. He took her to an office further underground, and Kerry wondered if it had anything to do with prestige. To humans, the highest offices were always the penthouse, where the richest and elite companies were. Did the lower into the ground that vampire offices go signify the same? If so, this guy was top-notch compared to the woman she had seen the night before. The man escorting her knocked on the door, then opened it for her, letting her walk in on her own.

Kerry took a deep breath to fortify herself, knowing even that was a weakness she shouldn't allow herself in a vampire business lair. She took a step through the opening, almost expecting the room to be dark and menacing both because of its position beneath ground and the fact the person who worked there was rumored to be an efficient killer. It was actually pleasantly light, electricity mimicking the effect of the sun, even though it was after sunset on the surface. Kerry had to blink, disarmed for a second. It put her at a disadvantage, and she knew that was the point. In the time it took for her eyes to adjust and yearn for a pair of sunglasses, she could have been killed a hundred times over.

"'Ave a seat," a slightly accented male voice said from within the room. He was sitting in one of those high-back swivel chairs, facing away from her. The scene was right out of a mafia movie or something. The door closed behind her, and Kerry glanced around the room looking for another way out or a weapon just lying around which she could use. She wondered if this assassin guy could see, or sense, her hesitation. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could hear her heart-beat pick up with trepidation.

He spun around slowly in his chair, looking so incredibly menacing as he stared hollowly at her, that Kerry knew the action had been a real method of intimidation and not a weak play off a movie. She stared at this vampire who was said to be a killer of his own kind and believed it whole-heartedly. He looked to be one of those hardened soldiers who had never experienced any happiness in his life. His face was scarred with signs of battle which looked to be created by a more primitive weapon than was used today.

She hadn't realized how great her assumption that she would be greeted by Michel was until she was face to face with this man. Kerry was immediately nervous, fidgeting with her fingers as she wearily wondered if she should sit or bolt.

"I 'ave that effect on many people," he told her with a grimace which probably passed as a friendly smile in his eyes. Kerry noticed that he softened his H's in a barely discernable accent, and she wondered for an insane moment whether he was French too. Her mind comparing him to Michel managed to calm her enough for a moment so that she smiled back, probably looking as friendly as he had, and took a seat in a high-back chair which was torture enough. Maybe he wouldn't even have to touch her- sitting here with his hardened eyes on her was torture enough.

Kerry was perched on the edge of the seat, her back straight and not touching the chair-back. Her posture was reminiscent of all those etiquette lessons her mother had given her once upon a time, but it's true purpose was so it would be easier for her to flee if she needed to. Not that she would ever be able to out-run this guy, or escape from an underground vampire lair for that matter, but just utilizing her fight-or-flight instinct, even to the littlest degree, put her at ease a bit.

Her heart-beat didn't slow down, however, and she could feel her imminent death beating through her ears.

"I am ordered to leave you alive for the time being," the assassin told her, probably thinking he was reassuring her. "We just want some information."

Alive, Kerry realized, was the main focal point of that sentence. Alive didn't mean he couldn't torture her by pulling her fingernails off, or whipping her, or whatever the popular method of torture between vampires and humans was this week. The vampire sitting across from her narrowed his eyes as her heart sped up and a sheen of sweat broke out on her forehead, probably wondering why the first time he acted nice in the past century made his victim even more nervous. "Are you also ordered not to harm me in any way?"

He smiled, more broadly and menacing this time. His smile said 'I'm going to cut you into tiny pieces and take pleasure from it' and it wasn't faked like he last one he had given her. A scar running down his cheek stretched one of his eyes sardonically. "Ah, so you did catch that."

Kerry wondered if she had done wrong by saying anything. She didn't want anyone to think she was smart enough to successfully keep secrets, or whatever it was they were thinking now. She always seemed to be digging herself in deeper without even realizing it. Where was Michel? She had been wishing he would just show up and save her again. A terrible thought flittered through her mind. What if he wasn't on her side? Sure, he had saved her the night before, but that meant far less than she was attributing to it.

"Tell me about the 'iss." The vampire urged, wearing his sympathetic face. Kerry had to smother the urge to giggle hysterically at his pronunciation of 'hiss'. She didn't think he would take too kindly to it, and when it came to be time for him to kill her, if she angered him now it would just make the process more drawn-out.

"I don't know what happened there. I kind of felt the reaction bubble up from my stomach when she touched me," Kerry told him, being far more honest under the threat of torture than she had been with death. She was realistic enough to know that a popular interrogation method was going after family members. There was something about how this guy looked like he had seen and did things worse than this back when he was human that made her realize just how precarious her situation was. "Kind of like something inside of me was trying to protect me."

"Do you feel it now?" The vampire asked, showing no reaction to whether what she had told him meant anything.

"No."

"But you feel threatened by me, do you not?"

"Oh yes," Kerry breathed, drawing another menacing smile from him. She knew he was dangerous, as his profession gave her the answer to that question, but she wondered how much of her reaction to him was because he looked dangerous. He might actually be a nice guy. She mentally snorted. Yeah, she didn't honestly believe that. He had to have gotten those scars at some point before being turned.

"'Ave you experienced this before?"

"No, not really. I had this strange feeling of fear when I brushed by a girl about half an hour earlier, but that was it. She was probably a vampire." Kerry could feel the sweat prickling at the back of her neck. This guy was effortlessly getting answers out of her that she had promised to never give.

"Have you ever had contact with a vampire before that?"

"No."

"You're lying to me." He slammed his palm down on the table, making a loud cracking noise as the flesh connected with wood. Kerry jumped.

"I was threatened once, but that was years ago, and the vampire was reluctant to harm a kid." Kerry congratulated herself for not giving away her age at the time, or Michel's gender. Her heart was beating, and her words had been too quick.

"He told you this? That sounds like a close relationship to me." His gaze was hardened, looking at her as if he could see the truth within her soul. Kerry bit her tongue to keep from rushing into an answer, and hoped she could keep the urge to squirm to a minimum.

"He didn't so much tell me as make some comment like 'you're lucky you're so young,' or something like that," Kerry explained, not realizing until she was through the sentence that he had subtly manipulated her into telling Michel's gender.

"How did you know he was a vampire?"

This question was far trickier, and Kerry really floundered for a second on what to respond with. "You've probably dug into my past, right?" Kerry asked, hedging for some time. Once the vampire nodded, she continued on. "A simple google search will tell you that I was once abducted by a man who thought himself to be a vampire hunter. Well, he had killed this vampire's 'special friend' right before abducting me. So the vampire comes charging in, intent on getting vengeance or whatever, and I get caught in the middle of it. In the end, we broke a deal that if I lied to the police and said I accidentally killed Marsala, he would let me live. And that's the whole story," Kerry finished off, hoping it wasn't as telling as Michel's 'truthfully's or 'honestly's to the fact she was lying. As far as off-the-cuff tales went, she thought this one was something to be proud of. Kerry hated that she was pleased with herself for lying.

"Why were you abducted?"

"I don't know," Kerry answered. "Maybe I was unknowingly talking to a vampire, or something. I've been wondering the same thing for years. The best I could come up with was that some lady stopped me after work one night just before all this happened and asked me directions to a local Laundromat. We talked for about five minutes before my dad picked me up. If she was the vampire who was killed, then maybe…." Kerry trailed off, letting her true meaning be inferred. She really, really hated lying. She could only hope she wouldn't mess herself up at some point with inconsistencies.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

©RelenaFanel.october13.2006

Tada! How many of you really thought she was going to be meeting with Michel? I know… I'm tricky. Anyway, I have a few things to talk to you about:

1. I'm joining NaNoWriMo for the first time this year, mostly because this is the first year I've ever heard of it. Those of you who are also in it can friend me – relenafanel – and leave your name in a review if you want a friend back.

2. For all you LJ users, I made a new Vivian Vande Velde LJ community. Links for that can either be found on my profile or by searching Murking Fantasy.

3. Favourite this story please. You know I feed off your reviews and love like a vampire needs blood.

Happy Friday the 13th, may your day be horrific and filled with hot dead men (or women) jumping out from behind dumpsters to suck your blood. As far as I'm concerned the unlucky thing would be to miss out on that.


	11. Chapter 11

**Club Vampyr**

**Chapter 11**

* * *

_To recap:_

"_How did you know he was a vampire?" The interrogator asked Kerry._

"_You've probably dug into my past, right? A simple google search will tell you that I was once abducted by a man who thought himself to be a vampire hunter. Well, he had killed this vampire's 'special friend' right before abducting me. So the vampire comes charging in, intent on getting vengeance or whatever, and I get caught in the middle of it. In the end, we broke a deal that if I lied to the police and said I accidentally killed Marsala, he would let me live. And that's the whole story."_

"_Why were you abducted?"_

"_I don't know," Kerry answered. "Maybe I was unknowingly talking to a vampire, or something. I've been wondering the same thing for years. The best I could come up with was that some lady stopped me after work one night just before all this happened and asked me directions to a local Laundromat. We talked for about five minutes before my dad picked me up. If she was the vampire who was killed, then maybe…." Kerry trailed off, letting her true meaning be inferred. She really, really hated lying. She could only hope she wouldn't mess herself up at some point with inconsistencies. _

* * *

"Let me show you something," the vampire interrogator said abruptly, swinging the monitor of his computer around so she could see it. On the screen was a picture of herself. The image was inside the room where Nelle died, from a camera she had been too busy to notice. It was pointed straight at the spot where the woman vampire had been holding her best friend, and Kerry briefly wondered if they had been watched the entire time. The still image broke into a flurry of motion as the vampiress flung Nelle aside and lunged towards the standing image of Kerry. Watching it, two night later, was far worse than the reality. She could see the bloody spittle foaming from the vampire's mouth as she screamed and moved for the jugular. Kerry couldn't help but reflexively flinch backwards, trying to protect herself even though it was only a video. Her heart was pounding, even though the attacking mad-woman was still captured before she could do any further harm. 

There was no sound in this video, and all Kerry could do was watch the images as they moved in an echo of a dance she had experienced so very recently, but what felt like years ago. The female vampire deliberately brushed against her in the movie, and Kerry was finally able to watch the reaction which had the vampires so intrigued. Her image changed, contorting into a snarl which appeared barely human. Her teeth were barred as though she had fangs to back up the threat, eyes narrowed, and back slightly arched like a feline. Though Kerry couldn't hear the noise, she could feel the way her soul had felt empty and smeared with darkness. There was a hollow feeling in her stomach, and Kerry just slumped against the chair she was sitting in and stared mutely as the video replayed across the computer screen.

"Disturbing, isn't it?"

Kerry merely nodded mutely, her ability to speak on par with the girl in the video's. This time watching, she noticed how the vampires around her reacted, not just the one she had been aiming the hiss at. They all flinched, some fascinated, others unable to look at her. "I don't understand," she said quietly, fingers unwittingly reaching towards the computer screen as if she could relive the scene again and be able to figure it out. "I know that it was a strange thing for me to do, but a hissing human shouldn't cause a reaction like that. See…" Kerry pulled her lips tight and breathed through her teeth, the air sizzling in a weak version of the noise she had made while cornered.

The vampire sitting across from her laughed, and it sounded like rusty hinges on a see-saw. "It wasn't the noise. It was the power behind it. You feel that sense of wrongness in your gut, do you not? That is just from a recording. You made the air bubble and burn with your threat, and we take things like that seriously."

Kerry really was screwed. She'd never be able to figure out a decent enough story to explain everything away. It was one thing to lie when you knew the truth, but another to pull things out of thin air. "Did it seem familiar to you?" She asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to hear his answer, and hoping she wasn't about to give him false ideas.

"Many things cause surges of energy like you. The old and powerful of my kind, which you are not. Wereanimals, which you are not."

"How…" Kerry started to ask how he knew. Her old curiosity was coming back, and she knew it would likely get her killed.

The vampire tapped his nose. "They leave a stench. There are also the fey, which you are…" he stopped, staring at her.

"Not." Kerry supplied helpfully. She had been willing to believe vampires were real, particularly in the face of one, but werewolves and faeries? This was starting to sound like something out of a Laurel K. Hamilton book – without the copious amounts of sex. "Anything else?"

"Magical users, but they always have magic residue clinging to them. Zombies. Ghosts."

Kerry forced herself to laugh. "I'm not dead," she told him.

The vampire executioner, whose name she still didn't know, just surveyed her carefully. He looked to be wondering about something, and Kerry instinctively knew he had only told her the theories he had already dismissed. "You're lying to me about something," he told her. "I want you to go 'ome and think about it, and what 'arm I can do without leaving a mark."

"Uhm?" Kerry muttered. "You're letting me go?" This was the second time in the same amount of days that the vampires had surprised her with a dismissal. "There isn't going to be some creepy vampire waiting in my apartment to kill me, is there?"

"Not until I find the truth," he assured her, in a way which wasn't reassuring at all.

Kerry stood up slowly, thinking that at any moment he was going to revoke his word and make her stay. She was anxious about the entire meeting, as it had gone far easier than she thought it would. Kerry didn't think meeting a vampire torturer was one of those times that sounded worse than it actually was, like the first day of work, or exams. She had expected hot-irons, small knives, and vinegar torture, not pseudo-kind words, and gently asked questions. She had a feeling this was just a first test, and that she had failed it. "I'll uh…" she gestured towards the door. "Bye."

Kerry wasn't too fond of the idea of her bolting like a frightened rabbit, as it had no dignity or pride in it, but she did so anyway. After scrambling out the door, she quickly walked through the white corridors, paying no attention to where she was going. When she reached the spot where she had assumed the elevators were, she found a storage closet and realized she was hopelessly lost. Usually, there was always someone around to escort her to and from desired destinations, probably to avoid an instance such as this one where a human was wandering around a vampire compound with no protection. She wondered if this was also a test, one to see what she would do in certain situations. She could picture the hallways going on and on like a maze, with obstacles waiting to kill her like something out of a Greek myth.

She was doomed. She might get the sphinx's question, but she certainly couldn't beat the minotaur. Kerry loitered around the door to the storage closet, hoping it would magically transform into an elevator. Alternatively, a vampire minion coming to find her would be welcomed as well. After about two minutes, as her patience was never something she could brag about, Kerry turned the next corner in the hallway. If she was going to get lost, she may as well find some secrets or get in trouble on the journey. Instead, she came face to face with the elevators.

"Looking for something?" Michel's amazingly silky voice asked from behind her ear. She could hear his amusement, and she wondered how long he had been watching her.

"You?" She both told and asked, standing still and letting herself feel his body standing behind her, far enough so that she couldn't actually feel contact, but close enough so that she could sense his breath. It was driving her crazy, and she knew that this was the bottom of the scale. If Michel really put his mind to it, her brain would be turning into a pile of mush in no time flat. Kerry closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling the scent of his cologne and the danger emanating off him in subtle waves. Her head felt dizzy and airy all at once and she had to contain the urge to lean back against him. Instead, she moved forward and pressed the up button for the elevator. "If you're here to escort me out, then we may as well leave," she told him, lowering her eyes to the floor as she waited for the elevator.

The doors slid open quickly and silently, and Kerry couldn't help but compare them to the ancient ones in her apartment building which creaked when someone stepped into them. "First floor?" She asked him as they both entered the metal box. She looked over at him, waiting for a response. He nodded once, long black hair falling in front of his eyes. She didn't like it when she couldn't see them, as even when he was looking right at her, his thoughts remained a mystery. When his eyes were hidden, it made her slightly nervous. She pressed the button to the first floor, and instead of going down like they would in a normal elevator, they went up.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked him, putting aside her natural curiosity to make sure that his answers wouldn't be censored because of where they were rather than the fact he just didn't want her to know.

"You ask permission now?" He asked, a slight grin pulling at his lips. The elevator doors slid open and he casually put his hand on the small of her back to lead her into the hallway. "I wouldn't suggest it," he told her, finally answering the question. If he answered truthfully like this to everything, she wouldn't have any problems telling his half-truths from his half-lies.

Kerry forced a laugh, "I hardly ever listen to suggestions. Even if they are for my own good. I just wanted to know if I… should know you from somewhere?"

Michel inclined his head towards her and for a second Kerry thought he might be pleased with the way she phrased the question. "I don't believe we have ever met," he told her in an extremely friendly voice. Kerry understood what he was telling her, just as he obviously quickly grasped the real question she was asking. They weren't supposed to have a past together, which meant she would have to be extremely careful about what she said to him, and where she said it.

"Are you sure, because you look… oh!" Kerry snapped her fingers. "You look exactly like this guy I had a total crush on in grade 10. Any relation to Chris Down by any chance?"

"Not that I know of," he replied with a smile.

Kerry pretended to be crestfallen. "Too bad, he was a total hunk, but never paid me the time of day…" she trailed off as if she just realized what she was saying. It was supposedly embarrassing on two accounts, one because she was admitting she thought he was hot, and two because his look-alike was not attracted to her. Michel was the reason she was now talented at subterfuge, as he had left her alone with the lie years ago and forced her to build on the talents he began teaching her during their time together. She may as well prove to him that she was quicker and sharper now than she was at sixteen. It would be comforting to both of them if he understood sooner rather than later.

"Well," Michel responded, holding open the garage door for her. She hadn't even noticed the fact he had guided her through the corridors. Usually she was paying attention to her surroundings in the hopes she would learn how these hallways worked. He was a distraction to her, and she couldn't help but wonder if she distracted him as well. If only a little bit. Michel continued, "why don't I treat you to some ice cream to make up for my new-found cousin's stupidity?"

"Are you asking me on a date?" Kerry asked coyly, a slight grin hinting to the jubilation she felt inside.

"Are you agreeing to go?" He responded.

"I'd love to," Kerry told him, even though they both knew what her answer would be before the question was even voiced.

"Come on then," Michel grabbed car keys out of his jeans pocket and flicked the open button. A silver Lexus LS460 flashed its headlights in accord. Michel started to walk towards it. Kerry followed, musing that this was a car she expected from him.

"Not very understated. Is it?" She asked, nodding towards the car as he held the passenger door open for her.

"Now isn't the time for subtlety," he responded carelessly, with a shrug. Kerry sat, swinging her legs into the passenger side as he closed the door.

Michel climbed in the driver's side. "I'm Michael, by the way," he told her.

"Kerry," she responded. "But then again you probably knew that." She wasn't sure what he meant by introducing himself, except for carrying on the charade that they were strangers. If he was still doing that, then Kerry inferred that the car was probably bugged or something. "Can I ask you another question Michael? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Sure," he replied with another half-grin, half-shrug. Kerry knew he never answered questions he didn't want to, and if he did, it was never with the truth.

"Are you a vampire?" She asked him.

He looked at her, face beautifully devoid of all emotion. Kerry wondered if she managed to annoy him a little, or if he was merely acting a part like she was. She couldn't help but remember when she had learned what he really was, and the way he had backed her up against a wall and put his mouth to her pulse. She had been terrified then, but she was sure if he did it again now, her heart would be beating just as quickly.

"Yes," he answered after a moment of thought.

"Oh," she told him, as if she was trying to pretend it didn't matter, but did. It was easier to pretend with him, as they were basically reliving the emotions she had felt years ago. She couldn't help but turn away from him in the car, wondering if there were cameras hidden somewhere which could physically see her as well.

"We're here," he informed her finally, turning into a moderately busy parking lot. He turned the car off, and she could barely hear the engine stopping. She didn't have much experience in luxury cars, but she was sure that was a good thing. Just as she was sure Nathaniel would be jealous. Kerry opened the car door before Michel could do it for her. She couldn't stop him from opening the door to the restaurant for her, but woman's lib could only go so far before it became ridiculous. "The usual?" he asked, the moment they entered the building together.

Kerry smiled at him, ridiculously pleased by the idea of them having a usual anything. She understood the implications of what he said, of course. He was telling her they were now free to talk, and she was more sure than ever that someone was monitoring them somewhere. Her level of paranoia could only go so far before she started to be right. Kerry nodded to him. "Sure, and I'll even try to eat it this time."

He grinned at her, and for a moment they were just a young couple out on a date. Kerry parted from his side for a moment to grab them a booth. She watched as he went to the counter and ordered, paying for both her sundae and a disposable cup of coffee. This time, they looked to be exactly the same age. He was keeping his hair longer now, and though she had noticed it the night before, it hadn't really registered in her mind with all the activity going on. Michel stood at ease, chatting with the overworked girl at the counter, and probably making her whole week. He walked back towards her, and for the first time she noticed how silently predatory his walk was. You couldn't see the danger he exuded as it was subtle like the rest of him, but it was there.

"Hot fudge, right?" he asked without really asking, placing the ice cream in front of her. "I got extra sprinkles just for you." His blue eyes twinkled cheerfully at her, and though it was probably a fake expression, her chest tightened painfully.

"God, I missed you," the words blurted out before she realized what they said. Kerry's eyes immediately sought his out, looking for a reaction, and then they darted away in embarrassment. Leave it to her to put her foot in her mouth almost immediately.

Michel basically ignored her, taking a sip of his coffee. What did she expect? For him to immediately declare how much he missed her too? Maybe he could then tell her how much he loved and need her as well. She'd add it to the list of things that would never happen. "Taking any interesting electives this term?" He finally asked.

Kerry forced a laugh. "Still trying to judge the worthiness of my life?" She replied. Quickly continuing with, "only Philosophy of Computer Ethics."

"Oh?" Michel's eyebrow shot up, and he looked genuinely interested. "Is it any good."

She shrugged. "It has a bunch of CompuSci majors, and sometimes I can barely follow what they're talking about. You'd probably like it." The moment the words were out of her mouth, she realized how true they were. He taught himself Japanese for fun, on the off chance he would visit Japan some day. She wondered if not being able to take the majority of classes offered by colleges bothered him, or if he was just thankful he was able expand his horizons in ways he wouldn't have as a human. If he wasn't willing to give up vampirism for her, would he do it for a real education? Probably not.

"Probably," he responded, putting down his coffee. "You never did improve your conversationalist skills, did you?" His jibe was gently put, but she immediately realized he was right. Conversation between them was rarely simple. There had always been undercurrents in it, whether she was angry at him for not being more concerned about her family, or terrified he would kill her, she hadn't really paid attention when he was talking about his favourite book, or the current TV show he taped religiously. Though they were probably lies anyway, she actually wanted to know.

"Ok then. Favourite movie?"

"Easy," he said with a grin. "Interview with a Vampire."

She almost choked on a sprinkle. "Are you serious?"

"Only if I get to count it as a comedy."

Kerry grinned, shoveling another spoonful of sundae into her mouth and meeting his eyes as her lips closed around the spoon. For a second, she forgot how to swallow. Though he wasn't looking at her in any particular way, and oh how she wished he would, there was still something seductive about the way their eyes met and it jolted her to the core. She could feel sexual tension boiling up between them, and it scared her that it might only be one-sided.

"What do you like?"

Kerry narrowed her eyes, knowing he wasn't referring to what her perverted brain immediately jumped to. What had they been talking about? Oh. Movies. Right. His eyes crinkled at the corners in laugh lines that would never permanently stay, and she wondered if his ambiguous wording had been deliberate. "Comedy, I guess," she told him. "I'm not really fond of that crude, embarrassing stuff though. Romantic comedy is great, as almost every girl could tell you. I guess it depends."

"On?" He urged. She wasn't used to just frivolously saying things to him for the point of conversation. It was a novelty.

"The actor," Kerry said frankly. "Movies are always made better if you have eyecandy in it."

Michel chuckled. "I can think of many films which would prove you wrong."

"Almost anything that has ever won an Oscar," she agreed.

"Ok," he responded equably. "Favourite actor?"

"Depp, definitely."

"I'm not surprised," he looked at his watch, and Kerry immediately began to worry that he was bored with her. "If you hurry up, we can probably make it."

"Where?" She asked, already shoveling the cooled, thick fudge into her mouth.

"The late show of his latest movie," Michel responded, speaking to her as if she should have realized that.

"Aussum," she muttered, the fudge sticking in her mouth. She had to scrape her tongue against her teeth and swallow as few times before most of it was gone.

Michel was amused. He was looking at her with that slightly curled smile and eye-crinkle. His eyes focused on her mouth, and suddenly he was no longer smiling.

"What?" Kerry asked defensively.

"Don't forget your purse," he tossed over his shoulder as he began to walk away. Kerry grabbed the bag, darting a quick glance in the reflective surface of the window to make sure she didn't have anything on her face. It was odd to think they were strangers who barely knew each other. She almost had to scramble to keep up with his long strides. After leaving the restaurant, he ignored his parked car and began walking down the sidewalk. Kerry wasn't familiar with this part of the city, but it stood to reason that there would be a movie theatre nearby.

"Did you have this planned?" She asked him while they waited at the sidewalk for the crossing-light to change to a walking man.

"Partially," he admitted.

She really didn't have anything to say to that. His honesty confused her. "Thanks."

"Maybe I'm just trying to lull you into trusting me again."

"Are you?" She wouldn't tell him that she did trust him, that it frightened her just how much.

"Am I?"

"No, I bet you just think a date will charm me enough that you can easily get into my pants." She wagged her finger at him. "Lemme warn you buddy, I'm on to you."

"Damn," Michel said with a grin. He was holding open the door for her. Those excellent manners must really be ingrained in his head.

"Besides," Kerry told him, waltzing past him and into the surprisingly darker interior of the theatre. The outside had been well-lit by streetlights and passing cars, so she didn't expect to walk into a building with dimmer lighting. "There really isn't much of a contest between you and Johnny."

That was true, she realized once they snuck into the movie late and sat in the first two vacant seats they could find. Michel actually won.

* * *

©RelenaFanel.Nov25.2006 

I've been trying to upload this since last weekend. Apparently this site has been having some problems. I'm sure you've noticed, what with the lag in the email alerts and all. So, this chapter had some cute Kerry/Michel interaction, right? Hopefully it'll last.


	12. Chapter 12

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 12_

The seats in the theatre were old, the padding in them long gone flat, and Kerry couldn't help but shift uncomfortably. On screen, Johnny Depp acted his way through various situations with graceful aplomb, and complete hotness. Beside her, Michel gave every outward appearance of watching the movie – he laughed at amusing parts, frowned slightly as the leading characters fumbled their way into another goof in their relationship, and raised his eyebrow when events turned unrealistic – but Kerry couldn't help but wonder if his attention was really there. Sometimes he seemed millions of miles away, thinking of something which made his muscles tense and eyes narrow.

She wondered what he would do if she put her head on his shoulder. It was a serious thought, something she was preparing herself to do. She knew he probably wouldn't react at all, wouldn't put his arm around her in turn, but he also wouldn't push her away. Between them, it would always be the things he didn't do. There was a slight chance, though, that if she leaned on him, he would gather her in his arms. Her heartbeat sped up at the uncertainty of it all.

"What is it?" His eyes immediately swung to her, then quickly darted around the theatre in search for whatever it was that put that extra kick in the speed of her rushing blood. She stared evenly back at him, waiting until his eyes rested on her face again.

"I was wondering how you would react if I snuggled up to you," she told him honestly.

Amusement crept onto his face. "I probably wouldn't," he told her with equal truth.

"That's what I thought." Kerry was slightly disappointed. It was one thing to hope for something she didn't expect, and quite another to be told not to expect anything. She turned her attention back to the movie, trying to watch it instead of him for the first time that evening.

"Aren't you going to try?" He whispered back a moment later.

Kerry shrugged. "Probably not." She could feel rather than hear him chuckle next to her. It came as a total shock when he slung his arm around her shoulder, in more of a friendly hug than a romantic one, but beggars can't be choosers, and jerked her towards him.

She grinned, letting her head rest gently against him. She wasn't entirely comfortable with his boney shoulder digging into her ear, but that was a minor complaint when faced with the light scent of whatever detergent he used to wash his clothing, and the slow lull of his heart. By the time they left the theatre, she was no closer to figuring out what the movie was about, but she could predict the exact time he took a breath while relaxed, and not talking.

They walked down the street, shoulder to shoulder, every once and a while their fingers would brush. Kerry wondered if it was deliberate. More importantly, she was afraid she was the one doing it. At some moments, just being with him made her heart swell with a strong emotion that she barely remembered feeling for him, and she wanted to get closer and closer to him. She had squelched the urge to hold his hand. It was bad enough that he knew what sixteen year old Kerry felt for him without bringing into the picture the fact that current Kerry felt the need to be in constant contact with him just to assure herself that he was real.

She didn't think she loved him anymore. In fact, she had figured out a long time ago that her feelings had been the crush of a naïve girl towards the mysterious older man. It was like a mild case of Stockholm Syndrome, and she had herself convinced that it hadn't been real. How could she love him for the rest of her life when it had been probable that she would never see him again? Now that he was back, it was obvious that she had been deluding herself. Oh yes, she had felt strongly towards him then, now, and probably in the future. But was it love? She knew nothing about this man, and what she did know could just as easily be a lie. She couldn't love someone she couldn't trust to be honest even if she did, on occasion, think she could trust him with her life.

"I'd like to talk to you about something," he said quietly, avoiding her gaze. Immediately, Kerry was curious. It was as though he was reading her mind, and she couldn't help but glance at him suspiciously from the corner of her eye. He didn't look back at her.

"Sure," she said, perking up at the idea of him saying something to her that caused him to avert his eyes. One of the things she noticed about him was that he could lie to your face without a second thought, but sometimes honest conversations made him so uncomfortable that he couldn't look. She wondered if it was just another one of those traits he feigned for her benefit.

Michel looked down at her face, eyes locking with hers for a moment and she drew in a breath. She told herself it was because she was about to say something, and not because of those blue eyes seeing into her soul. Michel glanced up and down the street before he took her elbow and slipped off the sidewalk. They cut through slightly damp grass, into a park in the middle of the city. Michel avoided the well-lit path, steering her towards a bench out of the way from anyone who happened to be cutting through. He moved easily through the dark, and though the area wasn't as treacherous as a swamp, she had to cling to the sleeve of his jacket so she wouldn't trip over a flower and fall face-first into his back.

"New jacket?" She asked, feeling the worn, soft leather beneath her fingers. She still had the one he had disguised her in years before. He didn't reply, and soon came to a halt. She bumped into him.

"There's a bench, right there," he gestured into the night. The area was made darker by the overhanging trees.

"My night vision isn't that bad," Kerry retorted, straightening from where she was clinging to him and groping forward for the bench. She could see a vague, seat-shaped shadow in the direction he had pointed to. She loathed to admit that she wanted to take back her quick reply, as she really couldn't see anything. Only her pride kept her from looking back at him to see if she could see that infernal smirk playing across his lips. Likely, she wouldn't be able to distinguish that in the dark either. Luckily, she soon found the bench by knocking her hip against the arm-rest. "Oww," Kerry complained before sitting down.

"Are you done showing off your self-sufficiency?" Michel drawled, sitting beside her.

"You couldn't have picked somewhere with a lamp?" Kerry asked.

"There is a lamp," she could feel him shrug. "It just isn't on."

"Perfect," Kerry muttered, bringing her feet up to brace on the edge of the wood. She put her arms around her knees and stared into the dark night. She had worn a sweater earlier that evening to not only ward off the chill, but to also prove to him that she didn't care to make herself beautiful in the off-chance of seeing him. Of course, she had no way of knowing that they would be spending hours in each other's company. Kerry was thankful for the warmth the sweater was proving now that they were outside in the cool, wet air as she could barely keep her teeth from chattering even all bundled up. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the overwhelming darkness, and she could now make out individual trees instead of a looming blob, the curve of his jaw, and the gleam shimmering in his eyes. "What did you want to talk about," she prompted him, wondering if he would forever hedge just so he didn't have to follow through with a conversation.

"Do you remember that last discussion we had four years ago?" He finally said. Neither of them were looking at each other, but appeared to be looking forward at the same thing. Maybe, it would be more apt to say they were both looking backwards in time, thinking of their own memories of a time they shared. She wasn't sure if it was a first or not, but it wasn't often that Michel willingly talked about anything the least bit personal or serious.

"Sure," she told him. She might not have vampire powers, but that night was so ingrained into her memory she would think of it at random times. "I actually had something I wanted to tell you about it." It was an amazing coincidence that they were thinking of the same thing.

"Ladies first," he said with a twist of his lips that was almost visible to her human sight.

Kerry frowned at him. "You brought the subject up," she pointed out, going so far as to physically jab her finger at him. She didn't really want to tell him, she realized. But at the same time, she didn't want this tension on her side to continue. There were pros and cons to both alternatives, and she didn't have the ability to sit down and make a list. Not that 'making a list' had ever helped her in the past. It was just what people did when they were indecisive about telling vampires the truth. Kerry sighed, giving into him. "About what I said back then," she started, already fidgeting with the hem of her sweater.

"Which part?" He asked. His body was turned towards her, one leg pressed against the seat of the bench. She was still staring into the trees in front of her.

"The part where I said I love you," she told him, turning her head to the side and letting her cheek rest against her raised knee. She could see him now, his black hair causing him to blend into the darkness like someone adept at hiding in darkness.

Michel's eyebrows winged up in the most surprised expression she had seen from him in a while. "Oh, that conversation."

Briefly, she wondered what conversation he thought she was mentioning. "I wanted to apologize," she rushed on, that little voice in her head yelling at her to stop. "It must have been awkward for you."

He made to stroke his fingers through his hair, but stopped the motion short. "It was… different."

She couldn't help but smile wanly. "I want you to know that it was only a crush." Kerry laughed. It sounded slightly bitter to her. "I know the difference between honest love and infatuation now, so you don't have to worry."

Michel remained silent. His face was drenched in shadows.

"I just thought you should know…" Kerry trailed off lamely. Surprisingly, her heart felt like it was breaking and she wished she could take it all back. Her admission did nothing to ease the air between them, if anything, it made it worse.

"I knew," he told her. "But you thought it was real."

And there it was… one of their demons exorcized.

"What did you want to talk about?" Kerry asked.

"It doesn't matter anymore." He told her.

©RelenaFanel.Dec17.2006

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Review. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Club Vampire**

_Chapter 13_

* * *

Kerry didn't know how long they stayed on that bench, each lost in thoughts they knew they would never share. Kerry's were full of self-loathing. Now, she would never know what it was he wanted to talk about, just because she had to go 'clear the air'. She was frightened that she had ruined everything. The 'anymore' was the part which really got her. _It_ _doesn't matter anymore._ But it had mattered before she inferred that she didn't have feelings for him and maybe never did. She was a fool.

Kerry's head whacked against her knee deliberately, figuring physical pain would be better than this mental torture she was putting herself through.

"Kerry," Michel said quietly. "Why don't you fill me in on the meetings you've been having at the Compound."

She turned and glared at him. She had pushed him away, or he was backing off himself, but suddenly everything between them stopped being personal and went back to business. "I thought they would want to know about you, but instead they started asking me about that weird vampire-like hiss thing I did."

Michel nodded, politely urging her to continue.

"You don't know about any of this?" She asked, wondering if it was possible that seemingly omniscient Michel wasn't aware of something going on in his own peer group. Her mind immediately flashed back to Nathaniel's shock at his father's subservience, and she wondered where Michel was in relation. She had always assumed that he was _someone_,

"I'd like to hear it from your side," he said. His answer was one of those wonderful Ethanisms, where he replied to her question without really giving her a definite answer.

"I'm terrified," she answered with brutal honesty. He had made her forget about her fears for the most part this evening, but it was still there. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting to be attacked at any time, even with him standing beside her. She didn't even feel a reprieve during the day. Was she paranoid? Probably. It wasn't likely for a vampire to jump out of her closet during sunlight hours unless it was on a kamikaze mission and taking her along for the ride. Great, something else to worry about. But with Michel he made her feel the safest she had felt since the night she first entered Club Vampyr. It was almost strange, seeing the man who had once terrorized and frightened her more than anything become a hero in her eyes. "How much danger am I in?"

"At the moment, or in the long run?" Michel asked.

"Do you think," she asked, finally turning in her seat to face him, "that I'll live through this."

"Sure," he shrugged. "Just prove that you aren't a threat."

"How am I gonna do that? I don't even know why I'm a threat." Kerry's eyes widened and then narrowed as a horrible, but possible, thought crossed her mind. What if Michel had something to do with her problems at the moment? "Is this your fault?" She asked, reverting back to the suspicions she had held for him years ago. He had earned the reputation of being deceitful through almost every word he ever spoke, and even now the trust she had for him was still tinged with weariness.

"No," Michel's eyes looked astonished that she would have to ask such a question, and Kerry couldn't help but uncharitably ask herself whether he was surprised because it was untrue, or because she had figured it out. That wasn't reasonable of her, she realized, he hadn't done anything this time to make her distrust him. Yet.

"Ok." Kerry replied, dropping the question. "You know, it might sound silly now, but for a while I thought you were this vampire assassin guy."

"Really?" In the dark, she could see one of his eyebrows raise.

"Silly, isn't it?" Kerry sighed.

Michel suddenly went still, turning his head and listening to something. Kerry's blood ran cold as he sat, focusing on something in the trees beyond her that her mortal senses had no way to detect. That's it, she realized, she wasn't leaving his side, ever.

"Is someone there?" She asked quietly, trying to keep the franticness out of her voice.

"No," he told her, suddenly standing. The next thing he said belied the denial. "Let's head back."

"Michel," Kerry hissed, jumping to her feet and hurrying after him. She stumbled over a tree root and it threw her off balance enough that she would have fallen if his hand hadn't suddenly reached out and grasped her elbow again. With Michel propelling her in the correct direction, they made quick time out of the park, even though the pace he set was casual. It drove her nuts, the way they were walking at a normal pace. By this time, she was imagining that the hounds of hell themselves were on their trail, and still he kept it slow and inconspicuous. Kerry's brain was moving much faster, wondering if someone was after her. Was this an intimidation tactic meant to scare her, or something far more dangerous and sinister? Maybe, and this was a new thought, they weren't after her at all. Maybe they were after Michel.

Of course, maybe he had been telling the truth, and there really was no one behind them.

Michel pushed through a bush, stumbling onto the hard, whitish sidewalk of a busy street. He dragged Kerry after him, the branches scraping against her body. The moment she was back into the light of the street, she started brushing herself off, feeling as if tiny bugs were crawling along her skin from where the brush had made contact.

"There's nothing there," Michel assured her, his lips twitching in amusement.

"You sure?" She asked, shivering a bit. Yes, bugs did bother her a bit, but what worried her more was the idea of them. This was a new affliction of hers, something which had changed over the past few years.

"You never used to be scared of bugs." Michel looked intrigued, as if this new phobia made her suddenly more interesting. He put his hand on the small of her back, directing her down the sidewalk. Quickly, she fell into line beside him, and he dropped the gentle touch.

"Last spring I crawled under a bush in the front yard to get a ball for Ian and disturbed a spider nest." Kerry shrugged casually, as if just talking about it didn't make her skin crawl and a chill creep down her back.

"I once knocked over a hornet nest," Michel responded, that grin still tugging at his lips as he surveyed her.

"Really?" Kerry asked, surprised that he was offering information on himself and that they were back to having casual, if boring, conversation. It wasn't really something he would have a reason to lie about, either. "I suppose it's something I'll get over in time."

Michel shrugged.

"Was there really someone following us?" She asked, changing the subject with a hasty glance over her shoulder. She didn't know whether she felt safer now that they were out in the light, or whether it was worse. If someone was targeting her, she was now in plain sight. Of course, she was now in a public place, with cars driving past and teenagers hanging out on the other side of the street. Witnesses made her feel a little more secure.

"Not anymore."

"But there was," she persisted.

"Why does it matter?" Michel snapped at her, spinning on her in confrontation. Kerry took a step back at the cold nothingness in his eyes. He never got angry at her: annoyed, frustrated, amused, fed up – yes. Angry was new.

"Because I'd like to know when I'm about to die." Kerry snapped back, her own hazel eyes flashing back at him. "I want to know when I'm in danger."

Michel reached over and grabbed her arm, yanking her closer so that he was staring down at her, his gaze intimidating. "You're ALWAYS in danger." He snarled, somehow managing to keep his voice level. He sighed in frustration, and she could feel the breath whip across her cheek. Letting her go, he ran his hand through his hair, staring into the evening behind her. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, and maybe slip in a comforting word or two, but for some reason she couldn't disrupt his haunted gaze. She knew he wasn't looking at anything in the real world. Instead, Kerry looked at his profile, relishing and reveling in his almost feminine nose, strong jaw, and high cheekbones. He was her age now, and just as handsome in a beautiful way as he had been back then.

He looked at her, eyes no longer cold or furious, and their gazes locked.

Kerry smiled, and for the first time in a long while, it was fully reflected in her eyes.

"I like strawberry milkshakes too," Kerry told him as a peace offering as they continued back down the sidewalk. It sounded inane to her own ears, but she was tired of real life. She wanted to go back to the almost-fun they were having in the beginning of this pseudo-date.

"Next time we'll get that then," he promised, and Kerry couldn't help but grin internally. "Come on," he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the street. They darted across the two lanes, casually jaywalking despite the fact that the street wasn't exactly devoid of cars. Kerry didn't even have time to berate him.

"You're really leading me into a life of crime," she teased once they were safely across the street. "What's next? Are you going to give me a pen and force me to deface some money?"

Michel grinned. "Maybe." They walked a short distance down the street before he dragged her around the side of a building. Kerry blinked, finding herself in the parking lot where they had left his car. So much for her keen sense of direction, she thought. "Hold on a sec," he told her, putting his hand up in front of her as she went to open the front door. "I have to grab something from the trunk first."

Kerry shrugged, thinking it was strange that he wasn't letting her into the car, but she had learned not to question him. She almost snorted at that idea. Not question Michel? Yeah, right. To pass the time, she jumped on one of those cement parking blocks and started to walk across the line of them placed in front of the restaurant windows. Just as she prepared for a longer jump than usual, her cell phone went off and she almost lost her balance and tumbled to the pavement. She knew from experience that falling would result in some nasty scrapes and burns. She didn't even want to know what the blood would do to Michel.

"Hello?" She asked, looking at the caller display and seeing that the number was from her apartment. She immediately drew Michel's interest with the sound of her voice, though he still appeared to be preoccupied with whatever was in his trunk. More than likely, he was just trying to make it seem as though he weren't completely eavesdropping in on her conversation.

"Where are you? I'm worried sick!" Nathaniel said, sounding casual enough that she wondered if he just noticed she wasn't home yet. A swift look at her phone display told her it was hovering around the 02h00 mark.

"Don't worry. I'm safe with… Michael." She hesitated enough saying his name that he glanced sharply at her.

"Safe? How can you be safe with some uber bad assassin?"

"Because he's not," Kerry responded. "False alarm. You should see the guy who is. He's this huge…"

"He is," Nathaniel insisted, cutting her off.

"No, you don't understand." Kerry told him. "I met the real assassin guy today."

"No, Ker, you don't understand. Dad just accidentally slipped that your Michael is definitely, absolutely, one-hundred percent the internal vampire slayer or whatever the official title is. Apparently he's trying to woo and court you into falling in love with him and then you'll spill all your secrets and probably some other stuff which is equally as vital to your life at the mo."

Kerry laughed, looking at Michel to see his reaction. His face was closed to her again, and she knew without a doubt that he could hear both sides of the conversation. "No he isn't."

"Stop being so naïve!" Nathaniel snapped. "He's tricking you."

"No one is tricking me," she replied gently. Her voice took on a hard edge she rarely ever used. "Because one - that love thing? It already happened with him. And two - he is my secret."

"Kerry, I have a bad feeling about this," Nathaniel's voice was hesitant. "Be careful."

She hung up on him before promising that she would. When it came to Michel, she was never sure of anything. Once she clicked her phone closed, she looked him in the eye. The blue was calm, not telling her anything. "You lied to me again."

"You've been expecting it," he replied.

"Yes." Kerry replied, far wearier than someone her age had any right sounding. "But that doesn't mean I have to be pleased."

* * *

©RelenaFanel.Jan12.2007

So, you want to read more about Kerry and Michel, you say? Well then, I just posted a Christmas story over on the VVV LJ community. If it makes you even more inclined to check it out – there is sex. The link is in my profile.

I love feedback, as always.


	14. Chapter 14

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 14_

* * *

_"You lied to me again." _

_"You've been expecting it," he replied._

"Yes." Kerry replied, far wearier than someone her age had any right sounding. "But that doesn't mean I have to be pleased."

He was silent.

"Tell me something." Kerry began, her acceptance drilling through the air more sharply than if she had responded shrilly. "Was tonight just for show, so you could report that you were making headway with the Nowicki problem?"

"Yes," he told her, and for once she wished he had lied.

"God, Ethan," she burst out. "You just take and take from me until I feel drained emotionally. I'm not just some take-out meal you toss away when you're done. Give me back something, or take me home in your stupid fancy car and don't mess with me again." Tears were gathering in her eyes and she cursed them as she looked up at the stars swimming in a polluted charcoal sky. In the city, only a few twinkled back at her and she was aware that those were the fake, man-made stars twinkling from within Earth's orbit. Even the stars disillusioned her.

Michel remained silent for so long, Kerry felt her heart sink into a quagmire of self-pity and doubt. She knew this was it. They had suddenly been getting along relatively easily, and not only did she find out that the entire date had been a sham, but he also wasn't willing to take one small step towards a possibility of seeing her again. Finally, he opened his mouth and closed it again, staring at her with a sharp intensity in his blue eyes. "Get in the car," he ordered with resignation at long last. Kerry could barely hear his words through the rush of grief pounding through her brain.

She nodded hollowly, somehow making it to the passenger side without really seeing her surroundings. She stared straight ahead through the windshield, knowing that this would be another night where she cried herself to sleep. When Michel sat in the driver's seat beside her, a muffled whimper broke out of her throat. It took a lot of willpower not to hit him, and even more not to dive out of the car and run away from him. Kerry sat perfectly still, knowing that any slight movement on her part would break the fragile balance she was teetering on. He held up a finger, stopping her from saying anything to him even though she was too angry and disenchanted with him at the moment to say a word. Quickly, his fingers skittered under the dashboard, searching out something. He pulled a small round object she could only assume was a bug of the technological sort and pushed his fingernail into a spot on it, then tossed it behind him. She assumed it was now safe for her to talk, or cry, which was probably what he was protecting against. She did neither, and her silence spoke volumes.

Michel turned the key in the ignition smoothly, and Kerry hated that he didn't seem to care at all. As if fate and karma all combined into one decided to show her how wrong she was, Michel backed up quickly, the tires leaving burn marks on the scarred pavement of the parking lot. The Lexus narrowly avoided being rammed by a Jeep Liberty, Michel's quick reflexes stomping on the gas and swerving at the same time. Kerry yelped as bright headlights beamed through the windows on his side, far too close for comfort. By the time Michel suddenly braked, flinging them both forward in the seatbelts, and pulled over to the side of the road, Kerry's emotions were running wild. She could no longer feel the tears welling in her eyes, but her hands were shaking and heart pounding, and breath coming in frantic little gasps.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, shocking her out of her panicked state with the sound of his calm voice.

"Do I look okay?" Kerry screamed at him, one hand still clutching wildly at her heart from where it had flown during the near-accident.

"I can't give you what you want," he told her, arms propped against the top of the steering wheel. He braced his chin on his crossed arms, staring into the dark night of the empty street in front of them. Suddenly, they weren't talking about her relative emotional health to the accident, and it seemed to go far deeper than her request for him to give her back something. Michel laughed, and it was bitter and self-depreciating at the same time. "That sounds horribly cliché," he told the windshield, "but it's true. I don't know what you want from me, Kerry, but you're putting me under pressure to perform up to some standard you have. I understand that after not seeing me, you have this image of me in your head that's idealized. We all do it. You need to realize that it isn't who I am."

"I wasn't asking you to give me everything," she started to explain, growing angrier with both herself and him by the moment. Who did he think he was, assuming what she was thinking? She didn't have many preconceived ideas of him, since he had never allowed her to see any sides of his real self. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that any of the personalities he had showed previously were the real him; just as she wasn't foolish enough to think they weren't.

"I can't give you ANYTHING," he stressed, finally jerking his head towards her. Kerry met his eyes without flinching, not able to discern what emotions – if any – were being exposed.

"Because you don't want to?" Kerry asked, reverting into herself with a small whispered question.

Michel's eyes softened for a second, and then went unemotional and cold like they usually did when he was hiding his true emotions without a congenial mask. "Because I can't." He told her, pulling the shift out of brake and getting back on the road.

It wasn't much of an admission, but it made Kerry feel a small bit better. He might be trying to tell her that a 'them' was impossible, but at least he divulged that it wasn't out of lack of interest. She thought about asking 'can't or won't?' but that would merely bring the conversation full-circle, and she wanted to get off the merry-go-round. "I'm sorry," Kerry replied with a derisive laugh for the long-forgotten habit of apologizing to him for things she should never be sorry for. She felt like apologizing to him for apologizing, but they had had that conversation before, and she couldn't remember it going well then either. Michel drove, seemingly aimlessly, and she wondered if he was taking her home so they could both move away from this evening, or if he had another fun plan for them to becoming closer so he could gain her trust, seduce her into telling him everything, and then kill her. She was lucky that hadn't been his goal a few years ago, because he would have won.

Kerry scanned the view out the window, taking in passing lights and the darkness between them. Every once and a while, her eyes would flicker to Michel's stoic profile through no volition of her own. It was during one of those quick glances that she noticed the red numbered time display change to 3:45. Kerry's eyes focused on the time with a feeling of dreadful disbelief. "What day is it?" She asked, her voice not quite frantic, but still urgent enough that he answered her immediately.

"Monday."

"Eeuuuugh," Kerry groaned, leaning her head back against the headrest with a jar. "I have a class at eight."

"Skip it," Michel suggested with a distained look as if to say 'if only all my problems were so easily solved', full of that affable understanding he was so well-known for.

"I can't," Kerry moaned.

"Sure you can. You just don't go."

"I skipped it last week," she informed him. "And the prof likes to give what he thinks to be random pop quizzes every second Monday."

"Kerry," Michel said, with a slight shake to his head. His grin was one of those ones she liked to think were real, but were probably just as fake as all the others.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"Don't pull that on me again," she said, slightly teasing but also completely seriously. "You were going to say something."

"Just that you have a very normal life."

"Besides the fact that one of my best friends is now a vampire, I was almost murdered last night, and you're back?" She supposed he was right. Before everything this weekend, her life had been rather normal, relatively speaking. She had worked hard to get it where it was too.

Michel was silent again, his car rapidly moving into more familiar territory now. They passed the edges of her school campus, turning onto the street where her apartment was. If he was considering this a fake date, then did that mean he had reason to try to give her a good-night kiss? She almost grinned at the thought, as well as the anticipation of feeling his lips against hers again. As he turned into the drive in front of her building, Kerry's traitorous heart started to pound slightly quicker and her palms became damp with nerves. Damn. And she thought the awkward end-of-first-date was bad with a human man. "Thanks for the ice cream, I'll seeyoulater," she breathed out, words jumbling more rapidly as he stopped the car and surveyed her with a grin. Kerry jerked the door open and practically hit the pavement in a run. She had enough presence of mind to slam the door before scrambling into the building.

She was a class-A fool. She swiped her card through the lock in the entrance, her back held high and face red with embarrassment. Michel's car was still sitting just outside, mocking and taunting her stupidity with its presence. It took her three tries to get the door to recognize her card, but once she was through, she walked with as much dignity as she could towards the elevator. The glare of the lights of the lobby against the sliding glass front door made it impossible for her to tell whether he was still there, and truth be told she had too much pride to even check. Kerry walked into the elevator and pressed the button to her floor. The doors just about closed when Michel slipped in beside her, surveying her casually as if his sudden reappearance was normal.

Kerry gaped at him, mouth opening and closing a few times like a breathing fish. She could have sworn the front door had closed behind her while he was still in the car. If he hadn't discounted next to all the vampire myths already, she would have wondered if he pulled a Count Dracula. "How did you do that?" She questioned in both wonderment and frustration. If vampires could move like that, she really wasn't going to live through the next week.

"Vampire trickery," Michel replied with a straight face, probably knowing exactly what she was thinking through years of dealing with situations like this – years of skeptical humans assuming his powers were greater than they were and faults were even far larger.

"Why?" Kerry asked. "I mean I thought we said goodnight."

"If you call the way you bolted like skittish virginal mare during breeding time a goodnight."

Laughter burbled from Kerry's throat before she could stop it. "Oh my God, Ethan!" she exclaimed with a horrified grin. "That's one of most disgusting analogies I've ever heard." Unfortunately, it was also frighteningly accurate. She had run off on him in that exact manner. Despite the shame she felt at the idea of being so obvious, there was nothing she could really do about it now, and she knew that if she were back in that car she would still do the exact same thing. Bold she was not.

He merely grinned harmlessly at her, and Kerry could feel the humiliated tension on her side of the conversation rising in the now-crowded elevator. Being so close to him made her nervous, and it was just made worse by not only the close proximity but her awareness of her own body doubled by the beating of her heart. She yearned for his touch like a caterpillar does for a pair of wings. It was obvious to her that he would kiss her at some point, especially if they kept playing this game of courtship which could only lead to heartbreak on her side. She wondered if he'd be able to hear it shatter like he could hear every other lull and tempo.

"Seriously, why are you here?"

Michel's silence became the type he portrayed while debating whether to divulge information or not. "I don't want a repeat of last night."

"Of last…" Kerry trailed off. Her first thought had been of him putting her to sleep, but then she realized he meant the attack on her life. "Do you think…?" Kerry trailed off again, leaving the rest of the question for him to infer.

"No," he replied without hesitation. "But do you really want to chance me being wrong?"

No, she didn't. She shook her head and joined him in staring at the blinking lights on top of the door signifying their assent. The silence was heavy like the weight of the higher altitude settling on their bodies. The elevator doors slid open with a loud grinding of gears and metal against metal, and Kerry knew from one too many nights of sleeplessness that it was audible inside of the apartments. Michel swept his hand towards the open door, allowing her to exit first. She was tempted to refuse, but it was a small point and she really didn't have a reason to pick a fight with him just because everything tonight had not gone exactly like she could have hoped. The Michel who moved out of the elevator behind her was different than the one who went into it.

"I had an interesting evening tonight, Kerry." Michel said with his charming, shy young man grin that he did so well. "Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night, too?"

She almost expected the words 'gee, shucks' to come out of his mouth, he was playing the part so well. Despite her cynicism and the fact she knew what he was doing, Kerry couldn't help but grin back at him. Michel did real-boy innocence so well, she never would have known he was a vampire if he hadn't been honest with her. The play-acting Kerry who was about to agree to another date wouldn't have, at least. "Sure," she said with enthusiasm, like an eager young lady who was quickly falling in love. She was that girl, once.

"Kerry, I…" Michel moved closer, invading her person space easily. Kerry stared up into his blue eyes and knew he never really thought there was a waiting assailant in her apartment. He just wanted to finish the task set before him to earn her trust, and there was no better way to report headway than to ensure he had a good-night kiss. He was using her for a pawn, and she felt the flash of anger shoot through her at the thought, quickly followed by the rational part of her brain reminding her that she could use this. If he was supposed to court her, she didn't have to make it easy for him. If his assignment was to kiss her until she was breathless, then she may as well enjoy it.

"Actually," Kerry hedged, demurely lowering her eyes to the ground, "I don't know if I can. I have to… write an essay tomorrow night." She paused just long enough so he knew, and anyone else listening knew, that she wasn't telling the truth.

"Do you really?" Michel asked, moving even closer to her. She could feel his cold strength against her front, and she wanted the sensation of his body on top of her again. She needed him so much, emotionally more than physically, and she was exhausted of playing games with him. Why couldn't Michel and Kerry just be together with no pretenses, ulterior motives, or continuing issues standing in the way? That would never happen. The real world wasn't some romance novel with a happy ending.

"No," she answered his question honestly, dropping the game.

"Good," Michel said, his fingers playing along the edge of her jaw as he subtly guided her chin up so her mouth was tilted towards him. Kerry reached up on tip-toes, her eyes fluttered closed as Michel's lips lowered towards her own.

"Kerry!" Nathaniel's voice cried as he scrambled out his door holding a fire-extinguisher like a lethal weapon.

"Gah!" Kerry shouted, dropping to flat-foot in shock. Michel dropped his hand from her face, turning towards her crazy neighbor in a movement which both protected her and prepared himself for an attack.

"Get away from her, you horny lying bastard!" Nathaniel warned, his lank brown hair hanging around his face in the weirdest looking hairdo Kerry had ever seen on him. It looked like Nelle's normal hair when she didn't temporarily tint it goth, and the fact that Nathaniel was trying for that look was creepy as well as vaguely sweet.

Kerry edged away from the two men standing in the hallway in a testosterone face-off. She took stock of the situation. Michel had almost kissed her – plus. Nathaniel interrupted – negative. Nathaniel called Michel a horny lying bastard – plus. The two of them were almost creating a comedy farce again – definite plus. According to utilitarianism, her night had ended better than she thought it would have. With an amused smile, Kerry let herself into her apartment and locked it behind her. Let them solve their own problems, she thought sadistically, so long as they didn't disturb her.

Kerry slept deeply for those four hours, despite the fact she was alone.

©RelenaFanel.March08.2007

Woohooo. Update. I seriously was not aware that it had been this long. Review, please. And make sure to tell me what you thought of this chapter, including their conversation and the kiss. Especially the kiss. How pissed are you that I had Nathaniel pop in right at the crucial moment? How many of you think I'm evil? Do any of you think that when they do kiss, it'll be so much hotter?

And if any of you are interested/were not aware, I recently posted a Heir Apparent short story for V-Day and Lure ch18.


	15. Chapter 15

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 15_

* * *

x.o.x.o.x.

* * *

Kerry's alarm went off and instead of sluggishly rolling out of bed like she did on most mornings where she got less than her minimum requirement of eight hours, she bolted straight up and skittishly glanced around the room. Her human eye-sight could still take in the sharp corners of her furniture and muted texture of things which appeared slightly fuzzy in the dark. Her pulse was blaring, the early morning sun was rising, and she couldn't shake the feeling of eyes focused on the back of her head. Rationally, she knew it was remnants of some strange dream where she was in the middle of a circle of people who whispered about her future in unhearable voices, but rationality didn't stop her from being frightened of rolling out of bed or even moving enough to turn off the escalating alarm-clock.

She sat, keeping her breath controlled in deliberate deep inhales and exhales until her heartrate decreased. By the time she was able to move from the bed, she missed out on the extra minutes she usually allowed herself every morning in order to take a long shower. She took one anyway, leaving her morning primping at nil and her long hair looking wildly bed-head in a way only little girls and university students tend to get away with. Kerry rushed into class and took a seat just as the professor was putting his not-so-random pop quiz on the projector. Luckily, she made it on time, unluckily, she hadn't really taken into account the fact that reading over her notes and/or the required material in the textbook might be advisable. She handed in her answers with that feeling of dread that she failed, which would ultimately bring down her grade and give her a promising future as a bum living under an underpass with a broken grocery cart and a box to call her own.

Barring, of course, that she didn't die before getting back the results.

The rest of the class passed by in a bored blur. She kept looking at the whiteboard, the squiggles of handwriting on it that she knew were also detrimental to avoiding a future living beside a dumpster, and instead of jotting them down in her notebook like a good little student, she saw Michel's blue eyes instead. A single night within his presence encompassed betrayal so great she should have slapped him and left, but it also made her loyalty to him stronger. How was it that he could lie to her, make almost every moment since his return tinged with possible falseness of it all being part of his 'plan' to get answers from her, and still make her feel a strong sense of loyalty to him? The fact that he was buying time for her by living the lie that he didn't know who she was just brought her closer to him after the initial anger wore off. Shouldn't she hate him by now? Want to hit him, or scream, or just toss him out of her life? Apparently not.

When Kerry emerged from class the sky was overcast with dark clouds. It was that time of year where it could either rain or snow, be sunny and warm one moment and the next be cold enough to see breath. She loved it, but was woefully unprepared for the day in her small fashionable camisole and thin jacket. Fending off a shiver from the cold, or so she told herself, Kerry stuffed her bare hands into the inadequate pockets of her jacket and hunched against the stiff breeze coming off the nearby ocean. Her hair whipped around her as she trudged back to her apartment, gleefully shuffling her feet through leaves which seemed to have fallen overnight. She could feel that sense of being watched again, and though she shrugged it off as being foolish (vampires could only threaten her at night, right?), she sped up and tried to covertly glance at her surroundings out of the corner of her eyes. The landscape was the same as it always was, only made lonely through lack of one of her two friends either accompanying her home or greeting her as they passed on their way to class.

It struck her then, as it had many times in the past couple of days, that life would never be the same again. Even her regular life seemed foreign to her, out of sync with everything that had happened over the weekend. She felt inserted into a fake reality by just going to class – as if she were in the wrong skin – and it unnerved her how change could lead to so much of the same. The same thing had happened to her after the last time she had met Michel, only then everyone she knew was aware, in part, of what had happened to her. Everyone had treated her as if she was a different person, someone fragile and damaged, and she knew they all suspected her capture had been far worse than it actually was and that she was a different person. She didn't know if she preferred this solidarity, where she had to pretend that nothing had changed, or not, but Kerry felt aged and exhausted.

Sometimes, she felt as though her world, and her thoughts, just kept going around in circles until she was so dizzy she couldn't clearly see him, or anything, anymore.

Kerry crossed the last street in front of her apartment, walking on automatic so she didn't have to put much thought into her actions. A stiff breeze cooled her skin, but she enjoyed the nip of chill caressing across her body. It made her feel alive, and at peace in a way. Nature always seemed to have a way to calm her emotions, particularly when her mind refused to move on from one thought. Maybe because it was something real and tangible to focus on instead of herself.

Entering her apartment building, like she did every day, she really felt bereft of her friends. The last time she had walked through these doors after school, she had been joking with Nathaniel about the possibility of going out clubbing. Kerry shook her head, trying to rid herself of this maudlin mood she was in. It had to be from lack of sleep, she told herself. All she needed was a nap and then she'd be back to her normal, somewhat-cheery, partially-depressed self. A few hours of sleep never cut it for her, after all.

She trudged, eyes growing bleary through the elevator ride, into her apartment, pausing to lock the door behind her, and into her room. She fell on to her bed with her clothing, jacket included, still digging uncomfortably into her skin. She meant to set her alarm so she could wake up before her next class, but never got the chance. It was one of the rare times where she fell asleep almost immediately and she didn't even have time to relish the fact. Six hours later she awoke with a twitch to bed-head fuchsia hair and blue eyeliner staring down at her.

"Eughfff," she grunted, blinking at Nathaniel's brightness as he poked her again.

"Skipping class?" He asked, jumping onto the bed beside her. He landed on her foot, causing her to jerk back in pain.

"Jerk," Kerry muttered fondly, glancing over to her clock to see why he had mumbled something about not being in school. The red display shone the numbers 2:38 at her in a neon glow. For a moment she felt panic at the idea that she skipped one of her classes, but then she realized how inconsequential it was. His shocking pink hair remained in the corner of her periphery like a naked man through a window you just don't want to look at. Kerry couldn't help but smile as she looked straight at Nathaniel, realizing that this was the first normal moment she had all day, despite the fact that normal hadn't always meant having him wake her up, or even enter her room without knocking. "Your hair is back."

"Yeah," Nathaniel replied to her observation, bringing his hand up to pat at the bottom of fuchsia strands like a diva. "It was duh-ull."

She silently agreed with him, plus yesterday it had just been plain creepy how he had styled it after Nelle. She was more used to this, and knew how to deal with it. "It's a good colour on you."

"You think?" He asked. "I styled it after the first episode of Alias."

Kerry snorted, shaking her head slightly with a smirk still across her lips.

"You know hon, you could do with a little pick-me up. Get rid of those circles under your eyes, make your so-flawless-I'm-jealous skin a little shimmery, some lipstick, some hair colour, and voila, you're tres cute." While he was talking, Nathaniel had her chin between his pointer finger and thumb, forcing her face in awkward directions.

"Admit it," Kerry drawled. "You're flamboyantly gay."

"Only sometimes," Nathaniel agreed. "And one thing I know is you aren't going to get your man looking like you just crawled out of bed."

Since she HAD just crawled out of bed, and hadn't exactly made it to the 'out of bed' part, Kerry just stared at him. "I think you're wrong about that. He's seen me at my almost-worse, plus I don't think eau-de-Kerry is so great on the second day, so as far as I'm concerned how I look now is almost dressing up for him."

"It's sad you don't want to make an effort," Nathaniel pointed out. "Are you sure you even like this guy?"

Of course she did. She was about to answer him sharply when she realized that this was the closest Nathaniel ever got to girl-talk, and though he was doing a shockingly good job at it, he still wasn't satisfying the void he was unwittingly trying to fill. He could probably never talk with her like Nelle could, Kerry thought, and even as the words flowed through her mind she realized that she had never quite been able to share the topic of Ethan with her best friend.

"Kerry? The question shouldn't be that difficult."

"It's not that," Kerry promised with a dismissive flick of her wrist. "I was just thinking of how I never really got to talk about this with my best friend."

"You will," he promised, standing up from the bed. "Now the sun sets in a few hours. Take some time to put on a pretty shirt and some lipstick whydoncha. Even your downward frown would look appealing to a vampire if your lips are the colour of blood."

Kerry threw a pillow after him as he left the bedroom. Instead of leaving the apartment as if he were some sort of metrosexual Kramer, he started rummaging through the kitchen. With an exasperated sigh Kerry crawled out of bed and grabbed her towel. It had been days since she took a normal shower and her legs were starting to show it. A little bit of phobia over a scene where she had almost been killed could be quickly dampened by the idea of sasquatch thighs. And honestly, she had a better chance of being laid tonight than she did a week ago. Before leaving for the bathroom, she peeled off her jacket and rubbed the angry red creases in her skin from the folds and seams of the thick cloth.

Half an hour later she emerged fresh, only to find Nathaniel sitting on her bed waiting for her. "Eeeiii," Kerry screamed like a little girl, wishing she had more than a towel in her hands so she could throw something at him. "Would you leave. Now."

"Yes ma'am," Nathaniel said, clearly amused. "I picked you out an outfit to wear on your date."

"Fine!" Kerry glared at him, slamming the door behind him. It wasn't until she stared at the flouncy black skirt with a jagged, multi-layered hem that he picked out did she realize that he was being surprisingly supportive for someone who went after Michel with a fire extinguisher. She could still hear the muffled noises of him rummaging around her apartment, probably in the fridge again. She quickly put on the skirt and a soft flowing pink shirt. The boy did have a flair for fashion. "Hey Nate," Kerry called out, opening the door to her room and sticking her head out. "Why were you ready to kill Michel last night but are encouraging me to go out with him again today?"

"He and I came to an understanding," Nathaniel told her, stepping out of the kitchen so that he was directly across from her. Kerry stared at him for a moment, her eyebrow raised in an attempt to get him to elaborate.

"Oh?" She prompted when the eyebrow thing didn't work. Nathaniel remained silent, arms crossed over his chest. "Are you going to tell me about it?"

"No, not really," he responded, turning his back on her and walking back into the kitchen.

Gah! Kerry thought. Michel must have been sharing tricks on what annoyed her the most. If that was the case, she didn't want to know what Nathaniel had said in return. Of course, it was completely unnecessary for her to worry over the two of them powwowing over all things Kerry. She couldn't see Michel talking frankly to Nathaniel, because, hey, he didn't do that with anyone. Secretive, thou name is Michel. Also, she couldn't see Nathaniel getting over his initial distrust for Michel so quickly. That took at least three nights of bonding time over beer, football, and cheetos. Obviously, not a Michel thing to do. She shut her door loudly on her way back into the bedroom and whipped out her eyeliner. She managed to draw a relatively straight line beneath her eye, and wondered if there was something to this make-up while angry thing.

It wasn't until a few hours later, as she sat on her couch and nervously jerked her foot, did she realize that she was actually looking forward to what a date with Michel had to offer. Sure, it was likely he would add a few nasty surprises into the mix through his inability to be honest or open up to her. In a way, when she was able to think about it charitably and removed from the situation, she shouldn't expect him to give up years of survival strategy just because it might hurt her feelings. And really, she expected him to keep her in the dark about things. It was almost a game between them, and sometimes she thought he set up situations in order for her to find out the truth without him explicitly needing to tell it to her.

She wouldn't put it past him.

So Kerry sat on the couch, nervously staring at the time on the dvd player. The sun had already set, and her makeup was starting to wear off. She couldn't remember him specifying a time, or for that matter a code of dress. Picking at the lacy hem of her little black skirt, she wondered for the umpteenth time whether her clothing was inappropriate, or if he'd even show up.

"Stop it, you're making me nervous," Nathaniel grumbled, scowling at his new Wii as the controllers in his hand went wild. She had already kicked his ass at the bowling game which came with the machine, even dressed up for a night on the town, and he was now practicing so he could challenge her to a rematch when she got home. Kerry wouldn't be surprised if she stumbled into the apartment around three in the morning again and found him standing in front of the TV, his arms flinging wildly in all directions. "Do you think it would help if I wore a skirt?" he asked.

"Maybe," she replied distractedly, half amused because she knew it wouldn't and there was a forty percent chance he would try.

"It's probably this TV," he claimed as the bowling ball went into the gutter once again. Kerry hadn't even known it was possible to get a gutter ball on this game until she had seen him play. "I'm just not used to it."

"Then why are you even here?"

"Have you seen my TV? I'm not going to play the Wii on a 40 inch flat screen! I saw on the news that these little straps break and you can shoot the controller through the glass."

Right. And it was better to fry a 200 dollar TV than it was to break the one his daddy had just bought out of compensation guilt. "You break it, you bought it," she told him, looking at the time again as he flipped out of the bowling game in disgust and went to lose at baseball.

"He's not going to stand you up." Nathaniel swung and missed.

"It's not a real date."

"Suuuuure. YEEEEES!" Nathaniel exclaimed, hitting the ball and then watching in disappointment as it went out of bounds. "He didn't have to ask you out, you know. He could just show up and you'd gush in your panties all over him."

Kerry made a face. "That's disgusting."

"It's true though. He came clean and admitted the game he's playing."

"I caught his lie!"

"He's clever. He could have thought of something to cover it up," Nathaniel responded, striking out.

She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"Yours, of course," Nathaniel said carelessly as he moved on to golfing. Dollars to doughnuts he didn't do any better with that either. Kerry did not want to watch him try to play the new Zelda game with his less than mad skillz. It would be an insult to the ultimate coolness of Link.

There was a hesitant knock on the door and Kerry jerked to her feet and started patting down her hair as she scurried towards the door before Nathaniel even registered the sound. "Give him a kiss for me, will ya? And don't come home too early."

Kerry stopped to stick her tongue out at him, instinctively knowing that Michel would be able to hear everything said from the other side of the door. Due to the substantial gape between the door and the frame, a normal human would have been able to hear Nathaniel as well. She twisted the knob, yanking the door open. Her skirt swished around her legs as she stared at Nelle. The two of them surveyed each other for a moment, Kerry slightly shocked to see her best friend on the other side of the door, her skin color looking far more healthy and alive – for lack of better term – than it had before she became a vampire. Kerry wondered when 'sickly' became the normal look for Nelle.

Kerry squealed, enveloping Nelle in a loose hug. "Oh my God, are you ok? You look ok. Healthy." Kerry laughed nervously as she pulled away from her friend, her hands still grasped around Nelle's wrists.

"You mean alive?" Nelle asked ruefully. "Because you know I'm not, right?"

"Yeah, I heard. But I don't mean because you're standing here talking to me," Kerry explained. "You've got this sparkle."

"It's because vampires have great skin," Nelle responded flippantly. She stopped her joking with Kerry and went still, and it was not unlike the quiet Michel adopted as he was paying attention to his surroundings. Kerry turned around sharply, worried about what could possibly be behind her which would make Nelle pause like that. It was only Nathaniel, and he too was standing still in the entrance way to the living room. He had a deer-in-headlights look as he took in Nelle, and Kerry could see him swallow audible.

"Hi," Nelle whispered.

"Hey." Nathaniel broke out of his trance, walking towards the two of them. "Oh God Nelle. I knew you were ok, but damn, girl."

Nelle laughed, a tinkling and unworried sound that Kerry had rarely heard since high school. She moved towards her sometimes-boyfriend, and he opened his arms for her to step in for a hug. As Nathaniel enveloped Nelle in his arms, Kerry felt a tingle of worry at the back of her neck, where her spine met her brain.

"NOOOO!" Kerry screamed as Nelle's head jerked towards Nathaniel's jugular, her mouth open and teeth exposed in order to rip a bite out of his neck. "Stop, Nelle." Kerry moved forward on reflex, not knowing what she could possibly do to help. Part of her was aware that if she interfered, it would likely be her blood spilling as well, but even though that was the case, she managed to get her hand around Nelle's shoulder before the teeth pierced through Nathaniel's flesh.

Nelle jerked as though she had been burned and she fell to the floor sobbing. Her hair trailed against Kerry's feet. "I'm sorry," she wailed. "Please forgive me."

"Nelle! What the…" Kerry took a step back when she realized it wasn't Nathaniel she was begging forgiveness from. Nelle remained prone, her forehead on the floor in a deep genuflect. "Get up!" Kerry demanded, both embarrassed and suspicious.

Nelle climbed to her feet, her head still bowed in contrition. "I'm sorry," she muttered again, behind a veil of hair. Nathaniel stood frozen where he was, face blank of all emotion. It was better than the condemnation Kerry had expected to find on his face, directed at either Nelle or herself.

"What happened?" A voice asked from the open doorway, tinged with suspicion and power.

"I'm sorry, Michael!" Nelle exclaimed, throwing herself at his feet in an act of contrition. "I lost control."

Michel looked at Kerry and for a brief moment their eyes met, and then he turned his attention back to Nelle. "I don't smell blood, so you must have regained it on time." His hand patted the top of her head, like a god forgiving his child for their sins.

"Kerry stopped me." Nelle still didn't rise.

Michel looked at Kerry again, and this time she knew he was hiding something. "Kerry?" he asked, and their eyes locked. For a moment Kerry felt as though she were falling into the wild blue of his eyes, but then the moment was over with Nelle's next words.

"Yes. She smelled of your power." Nelle's eyes were adoring and trusting as she looked at Michel for the answers. In turn, he and Nathaniel looked at Kerry with various degrees of suspicion and alarm until Nelle too turned her head. For a moment, Kerry felt a sinking feeling at the imagined hostility in the room, feeling as though she were trapped in their accusations without a lifeline.

"That's not possible," Michel said calmly, a reassuring smile on his face. "Your powers are new, Nelle." He bent over at the waist in a bow, fingers grasping around her hand as he helped her back to her feet. "You probably sensed my approach and got confused. It happens to the best of us. Now, we must speak about how and why you lost control." Gently, he led Nelle into her own living room, past Kerry and then Nathaniel. Kerry watched his effortless control, glaring at his back as he moved. He was hiding something. She knew it.

"That was strange," Nathaniel said, shifting towards her so they could talk in private. Neither of them honestly believed the vampires in the other room couldn't hear them, but both were hoping they weren't listening.

"I know," Kerry mused.

"I've never seen Nelle so subservient. Weird how she just kept bowing left right and center like some freakin peasant in the royal chamber."

"Oh! Yes, that was out of character—"

"I don't like what these vampires are doing to her. It's like some kind of non-democratic patriarchal hierarchy society bullshit."

"I'm sure there is a word for that," Kerry mused. "Too bad neither of us are political science students."

"How about Fascism?" Michel supplied from his seat on the couch. Kerry shot him a dirty look despite the fact a wall was hiding him from view and heard his suppressed chuckle. She had a feeling that if they still went on a date, it was going to be one horrible evening. There was only so much stifled silence she'd be able to take before hitting him over the head with her purse and demanding he tell her everything. Michel, she knew, would not take kindly to that.

Kerry drew Nathaniel further into the apartment, down the hallway which led to Nelle's room and the bathroom. Though the route was a familiar one she treaded multiple times a day, it was still stained with the stench metaphysical blood and fear. Maybe now that her roommate was a vampire, a little death would be more suitable for her. "I think you're missing the problem with Nelle bowing. I'm more concerned with the fact she did it to me first."

"She's new at this vamp thing, Kerry," Nathaniel said skeptically. "Like Michael said, it would be more strange if she was immediately perfect."

"He didn't say that," Kerry responded in her hushed whisper. "He said she probably made a mistake because she's new. I think he was lying."

Nathaniel's reaction surprised Kerry. Instead of agreeing with her, he gave her a sympathetic shake of his head, patting her shoulder in a way which made her grit her teeth. "Not everything he says has to be a lie. Life isn't all about you, and it's not all about him. I think he was telling the truth. Why can't you get beyond these petty suspicions and see that?" Nathaniel stormed out, leaving her whirling in a tide-pool of self recrimination. Why couldn't she? Kerry questioned herself. Why couldn't she take what Michel said at face-value? She knew why. It was because Michel lied prettier than he told the truth. If he was open enough to offer an explanation, it was likely the words were false. But even so, Nathaniel had planted a ripple of doubt.

When Kerry walked back out into the hallway, Michel was waiting for her outside her bedroom. Her heart tripped, and she knew that it didn't matter whether he told the truth or not. She could tell herself she hated liars, she could know he conned and manipulated more than he was honest, and still she ached when she saw his dark hair and pale lean body. He smiled as she drew closer, and Kerry knew she was in trouble. She believed in him, even if she didn't necessarily believe him.

And worst still was the fact that she wanted his lying mouth put to play manipulating her body.


	16. Chapter 16

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 16_

* * *

_.x. _

* * *

_I cannot explain to you  
And anything I say or do  
I hope the actions speak the words they can_

_For my pride and my promise  
For my lies and how the truth gets in the way_

_The things I want to say to you get lost before they come_

Linkin Park – In Between

* * *

_.x. _

* * *

Michel smiled invitingly, his blue eyes crinkling and his body language relaxed. Kerry's knees went weak at the sight of him standing before her door like a delicious apparition waiting to be invited in. Her lips quirked back at him, and she knew that no matter what he did to her, she would take it for the moments his smile promised. 

"Where's Nelle?" Kerry asked as she drew close, throwing up a buffer between them. In that moment she trusted herself less than she trusted him. She was a sucker for French vampires with sexy smiles, long black hair, and disenchanted blue eyes.

"Talking to her boyfriend," he answered, his hand sliding around her lower back so he could direct her through the door to her bedroom. Kerry's heart rate accelerated wildly, though she knew he probably didn't mean anything seductive through his actions. There was just something about him guiding her into her bedroom that made her think naughty thoughts. Oh, who was she kidding? Sometimes she just had to look at him, or think of him, and she was half-way there.

"I'm thinking about it," he whispered in her ear, turning towards her so his cheek barely brushed against hers as the words emerged from his mouth. He paused for maximum effect, his solid and slow breath in her ear. In. Out. Repeat twice. Then he pulled away, removing his hand from around her waist and sitting in the only chair in the room.

The whole time he had been close to her, Kerry's mind had been wonderfully blank, buzzing with white noise and wishful images of how things could go. When he removed the touch of his hand against her back and sat down, she exhaled in a sound which masqueraded as relief. In some ways it was. Kerry pivoted and sat on her bed, facing him with her thighs pressed against the mattress and her feet dangling towards the floor.

"We need to talk." He shifted the computer chair forward, the wheels turning with effort against the carpeted floor as he inched closer to her until there was only enough room between their knees for one of them to cross their legs.

"Ominous." Kerry's face was a mask of disinterest, but inside she was wondering what they could possibly have to talk about. Was he going to break up with her even though their relationship was a sham to begin with? Was it something to do with his fellow vampires wanting to find out her secret? "Are we still going out later?"

"There is something I need to tell you first, then you can decide." He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. His face was earnest. Immediately Kerry became worried. "It's my fault," he told her. "I lied to you again."

"What's your fault?" Kerry took in his body language, watching as he ran his fingers through his hair. With this kind of abuse, she figured that if he had lived, Michel would have been bald by thirty. He appeared to be nervous, or at least worried, about the impact of his words, and yet that suspicious voice in the back of her mind wondered. She shoved the thoughts away so she could concentrate on what he was saying. "Nelle's death?"

He paused before answering. "No." Kerry was about to ask him if he was lying to her again when he cut her off. "Just let me talk, ok? I'm having trouble being honest with you to begin with."

"Fine," she huffed, too curious to really get offended.

"This strange influx of powers – the hiss, Nelle bowing to you, the sensitivity to sunlight – are all because I've been storing my excess power in you."

Kerry's eyebrows shot up and then she frowned, too many questions floating through her head for her to discern how she felt about that. Anger was present, but so was relief. She took a moment to pause and count to five, and then really thought about it. It almost seemed unbelievable, which loaned certain credence to his claim. "How?" she asked, forgetting her temporary vow of silence.

"I think 'why' is the more pertinent question. Because I'm far too powerful for my position of enforcer under this boss. He feels threatened easily, mostly because his grasp on control is tenuous at best. I could have dispelled the power, but if I used a living vessel to store it in, I could draw on it when need be." Michel sat back as though his job was done, and there was a relaxed slump to his straight shoulders which hadn't been there even as he was leaning towards her. Kerry knew the words had been rehearsed, and that there was more than just the surface which needed to be taken into account. Later, she would think back on his words and his particular brand of truth and try to figure out what he wasn't saying.

"Why me?"

"You're the only person I trust."

"That's bullshit!" Kerry said sharply, knowing from the smug smile pulling at the corners of his mouth that she was right. "You didn't think you'd see me again, and you didn't think I would interact with your kind again and unwittingly betray your secret."

"That's true too," he said amicably. "Let's just leave it at the fact you were my best choice."

"Am I supposed to feel honoured? I have your – what? Energy? Power? Ki? – running through my body and getting me into life threatening peril with your people. You'd betray me in a nanosecond to protect yourself, and we both know it."

He didn't insult her by trying to deny it. "The truth is, Kerry, that I'm telling you this for that very reason. You've lied for me this far, but I'm afraid they're starting to figure out what's going on. The only reason they didn't think of it sooner is that it is almost unheard of for a vampire to do what I have. Vampires are a selfish, egotistical lot who flaunt their power in order to climb the social hierarchy."

"Then why aren't you? Why do you want to appear weaker?"

"I can't tell you that," he said, closing off again. She knew that since he had denied her an answer once, it would now be easier for him to lie or not answer her again. The period of Michel being open and honest – or as open and honest as he got anyway, she realized, noticing the gaping holes of logic in his explanation – was over.

"What happens if I die?" she asked quietly.

"Then it all comes rushing back to me with an intensity I wouldn't be able to conceal. It wouldn't be good for either of us."

"So you'll protect me for that reason alone?"

"No," he said, taking her hand and holding it between his. "Not for just that reason. I'll protect you because I owe you so much more than putting your life in danger. No matter what you think of me, I am sorry for this."

"You're just sorry you got caught," she informed him, curling her fingers around his to belie her criticism. They sat in her room, the girly feminine touches left over from her youth oddly charming against the more sophisticated and mismatched attempts at adulthood. "Can I use them?"

"No!" he said so rapidly and sharply that she didn't have to be in tune with his subtleties to know he was lying. Michel's shoulders slumped, realizing he was caught. "You have been. They've been trying to protect you for the past couple of days."

Kerry nodded, hoping it appeared as though she understood what he was talking about. She wasn't sure if her brain had accepted any of this yet. She knew he was telling the truth because his lies were never this far-fetched. For once she wasn't upset or disappointed in him for lying to her, as she knew if he said something like 'oh, by the way, you're a human battery for my powers' she would have laughed at him. "I'm oddly not mad at you. Why is that?"

"Give it time to settle in. This time tomorrow you'll be so angry with me I won't be able to dodge all the punches."

Kerry snorted. "As if I could-" she cut off, a strange thought entering her head. "You aren't able to control me, are you?" she blurted out.

"No more than usual," he said lightly, a dark look entering his eyes for a moment at the question. "I'm not in your head."

"Liar," she said with a smile. "You're always in my head." They were silent for a moment, before she continued the conversation. "On a slightly related note. When did this start?"

"I opened the connection when I kissed you. I started siphoning energy shortly after."

Kerry's eyebrows rose in surprise. "That long?" She didn't want to dwell on the idea that their only kiss had been because he wanted to use her as a backup power generator. It was bad enough thinking he did it in order to repay what he saw as a debt. "Should I be able to tell that it's inside of me?"

Michel took a moment to think about how to answer before he said anything. "Sometimes you might be able to. Close your eyes."

Kerry narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him.

Michel smirked. "I'm not going to bolt from the room the moment you can't see me. As tempting as it is."

"Fine," she responded, letting her eyelids flutter closed. Michel pulled his hand away from hers, and immediately she pictured a caricature of him jumping up and running out of the apartment.

"Where's my hand," he asked her.

"You aren't serious," Kerry responded, her eyelids slipping open enough so she could detect a shadow of his form. She pointed to his hand held above his head.

"Cheater," he accused with a smile in his voice. "I'm serious about this, Kerry. The part of me inside of you should be able to find itself."

Right, she thought, closing her eyes so all she could see was the red of the light through her eyelids. Her mind's eye could see him sitting in front of her, and at first she couldn't see his hands. Then, after a moment of concentration, they became visible to her. Kerry reached out, attempting to grab his hand, but instead her fingers circled around air.

"No. Try again."

The second time obtained the same results, as did the third and forth. Kerry groaned in frustration. "This is stupid," she informed him.

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you can't do it." His voice was mocking and amused. Kerry sneered at him, her fury mounting. She went to open her eyes, tired of the game, when his image changed. Instead of a detailed picture of him in her imagination, she could only see a vague outline. Her spine tingled, and though she couldn't quite see his hand, she knew where it was. She moved her arm towards him, knowing this time she was right. When he moved his arm away, she was furious enough at him for continuously tricking her that her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, yanking him towards her.

Kerry caught Michel off guard, her hand closing around his fingers surprised him, but he never expected the strength she exerted on the pull. He moved with her, trapping her hand in his grasp as he forced her backwards on to her bed and holding her arm above her head. Kerry inhaled sharply as his weight pressed against her, his free hand braced against the bed at her waist. Her eyes flew open and his searing blue irises burned into her vision. She didn't know if she would ever be able to associate blue with cold again.

"Close your eyes," he said softly, leaning over so his mouth skimmed against her jaw.

"Another test?" She asked, a teasing lilt to her voice as she tried to ignore the pounding of her heart. His mouth was on her neck, tongue tracing the throbbing beat of her pulse. Kerry gasped as his blunt front teeth grazed her dampened skin, causing liquid heat to rush to lower parts of her body. His mouth was more than welcome there, as well.

"No," he informed her, his cool hand brushing against the exposed skin of her stomach. Kerry gasped, eyes fluttering as he inclined his head towards her, his lips brushing softly against the corner of her mouth before-

"You bastard!" Nelle screamed. Michel's head whipped upwards, looking towards the living room as though he could see through the wall.

"Woah," Nathaniel responded, followed by the crash and shattering of something breakable.

Kerry looked up towards the thin wall separating her bedroom and the living room, following Michel's gaze. "I hope it was the ugly yellow vase," she whispered for levity, inwardly cursing Nathaniel for interrupting. Again. She was sure whatever was happening out there was entirely his fault, too.

"You knew this whole time," Nelle continued in what Kerry would call a definite outdoor voice.

Oh oh, Kerry thought, wriggling out from beneath Michel so she could put her ear against the wall and listen more carefully. With a sigh Michel rolled to the side and didn't make any moves towards curiosity like Kerry. Of course, with his superior hearing, he didn't need to. Kerry wondered idly while her ear was smushed against the wall whether she could somehow use his super-hearing skills. She tried concentrating on listening the words, but they didn't become clearer. Somehow, Nathaniel had managed to say something non-idiotic in order to calm Nelle into speaking softer. Kerry took this as a good sign.

Until Nelle said, "I can't BELIEVE you lied to me. You DELIBERATELY told me vampires weren't real. YOU knew. You KNEW! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!"

Kerry jerked in surprise, her worried eyes immediately meeting Michel's. Nathaniel was murmuring something on the other side of the wall, but Kerry was beyond eavesdropping. "She's going to hate me," she whispered to her companion. "She's been my best friend forever, and I did exactly the same thing to her."

"Not exactly," Michel pointed out. "I doubt Nate was ever given the choice to turn."

Kerry's eyes narrowed. "You aren't helping." From the other side of the wall, the front door slammed dramatically.

"And there was the big exit," Michel pointed out cynically. "Nelle was being overly dramatic. She'll forget all about it in a few nights."

"I don't know," Kerry responded warily. "You don't know her like I do. She can hold a grudge like no one else."

Michel sighed, getting off the bed with a smooth roll of limbs. He straightened out his shirt and then offered her his hand. Kerry took it, allowing him to haul her off the bed without moving the sheets. He kept her hand in his, his eyes focused on her face. Kerry felt the urge to demurely lower her gaze, so instead she met his eyes boldly, a challenge glinting in them.

Michel's lips tilted in the slightest of smiles, and Kerry knew he was going to kiss her. She moved forward slightly, encouraging him.

"Nelle's gone!" Nathaniel said, not using his indoor voice either as he crashed through the bedroom door. Kerry jumped away from Michel, an expression of guilty embarrassment flashing over her face. Michel's features went blank as he turned to look at Nathaniel standing in the door. Nathaniel, sensing that he had somehow turned both occupants of the room against him, rushed on, "I'm really worried."

"She hasn't been gone for more than five minutes."

"But where does she have to go? Back to those people?" The venom in Nathaniel's voice as he spoke about vampires as something less than a parasite made Kerry glance at Michel for a reaction.

"She is one of 'those people'," Michel reminded softly. "You don't have to worry about her like she's still an invalid."

"Nelle was sick!" Nathaniel responded hotly. "She was never an invalid. And if you aren't going to do anything for her, then I'll find someone who will." He stormed out of the bedroom, pausing before he slammed the door to deliver one last parting shot. "And seriously guys, get a room!"

Kerry snorted, immediately covering her mouth with her hand. Michel's shoulders relaxed and he ran his hand through his hair. "Do you really think Nelle should be left alone right now?" Kerry asked. "She almost bit Nathaniel. Who knows what kind of trouble she could get into being upset and alone on the streets."

"I know."

"What if she bites someone? What if she runs into hunters? What if she meets some evil vampire who convinces her to turn to the dark side?" With each question, Kerry's voice became shriller and more desperate. She was frowning with worry, nervously digging her fingernails into the palm of her hand. She couldn't even look at him anymore.

"I know," Michel's response was a tad sharper. He reached for the door, striding out into the hallway before Kerry could even register he was gone.

She scrambled after him. "Where are you going?"

"To headquarters to see what can be done."

"Can I come with you?"

"No." He paused. "Sorry about the date. You look nice."

Kerry jumped forward, grabbing his arm as he tried to open her front door. "Let me rephrase that. I'm coming with you." With shoulders squared and a determined look on her face, she challenged him to argue with her.

"Let ME rephrase," he said, walking out the door. "No."

©RelenaFanel.June4.2007

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So, what do you guys think about Michel's attempt at honesty. Is he still lying? Should he stick to keeping everything from her? Don't worry, I'm not trying to make him into someone who tells the truth. We all know he only does that when it serves his best interest. 

As always: please review.


	17. Chapter 17

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 17_

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A/N: This chapter has a slightly Mature rating due to sexual themes. Don't worry, there is no actual act of sex, or even any heavy making out. If this disappoints you, I don't blame you at all. Maybe later.

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.x.

"I hate this place," Kerry said, cautiously walking through the generic white hallways of vampire headquarters. Michel showed his displeasure with a slight tension between his eyebrows, making Kerry think that not only would he be bald by the age of thirty, but also with deep wrinkles between his eyes. All in all, he was lucky he died around age 19, because otherwise his complete hottie rating might have gone down drastically. Of course, knowing Michel, he was probably blessed with good hair genes and a little age showing would have only made him more gorgeous. She thought it was unfair that some people had all the luck. He gave her the evil eye, signifying for her to keep quiet. He had explained the rules to her on the way over in yet another company owned SUV. They consisted of: "No talking. No breathing. No heartbeats. And for Godsake no leaning over like that in front of me."

She was pretty sure he only meant one of them.

She shut her mouth and glared at his back as he traversed the maze of hallways with a familiarity that made her wonder whether he lived here. She knew he was upper management, though she wasn't sure whether he had ever told her that personally. She had assumed when he told her that they were going to his office that they were heading towards the room she had been interrogated in earlier. Instead, they bypassed that floor altogether, heading downwards into the sub-terrain levels beneath the city block until they emerged into a higher class of the same hallways. Beneath her feet Kerry could tell that the carpets were plusher, and the paintings decorating the walls were real instead of prints.

"Heh," she muttered, giving Michel an equally sour look when he turned back to glare at her. She wondered how long it would take him to get over the fact that she had won the argument. Ideally, it would be soon as she was expected to live a lot less time than he was. He stopped a few feet in front of her and gave her the universal hand signal for halt. Since he didn't also wave his arm in an attempt to flatten her against the wall like he had last time, she assumed that the coast was clear. She moved closer to the wall just in case.

Michel opened the door he was standing in front of, standing in the entrance for a moment as he allowed his vampire senses to test the safety of the area. He stepped back out into the hallway and gestured for her to go in before him. Curiosity being one of her better features, Kerry quickly slipped into the room without a second thought. If Michel thought it was safe, and she wasn't allowed to argue anyway, then there wasn't much else she could do. Kerry hadn't really been sure what she expected out of Michel for an office, but an expensive looking black and chrome motif hadn't been it. The room was huge, probably bigger than her entire apartment, and for the first time Kerry started to comprehend exactly how powerful he was – not necessarily in terms of power as he used the word, but rather authority.

"Cushy," she said, taking in the sunken area with a black leather couch, a chair, table, and all in front of a fake fireplace. It made his desk and the two less-comfortable appearing chairs seem spartan and she could practically feel the intimidation that was possible by making the his guest sit before his desk instead of in the informal sitting area. It spoke of his displeasure with them, and Kerry was starting to think that Michel was not a person you wanted to be displeased.

She sat in one of those chairs in front of his desk, figuring it was fitting. She had recently made him angry, Kerry thought with a rueful smile, trying not to squirm as he shot her a look and sat behind his desk. His computer was a Dell Inspiron, in a far newer and enhanced version than her own. He flicked it open and began typing, eyes immediately narrowing in concentration. He hunched over the screen with a slight scowl over his features, his long and talented fingers flying over the keys so rapidly, she could barely see the movement. As someone who could type about 30 words per minute, Michel impressed the heck out of her. But then, he always did.

Kerry watched him finesse his was through a series of rapid typing with minimal pauses which seemed to take his concentration even more. "I thought you said that you have easy access to this information," she said.

Michel's eyes looked up, slightly startled and bewildered as they saw her sitting in front of him, and she knew that he had been so involved in what was in front of him that his mind had left his surroundings. She worried about him for that. He paused for a second longer contemplating her words, and then responded. "I do."

Liar! He didn't, Kerry realized, or at least his definition of easy was far different than hers. "Oh, then I guess you aren't hacking into super-secret files like they do on 24."

"I don't watch much TV," he responded dryly, avoiding the point. He started typing again, but he was now in tune with his surroundings enough that he shot her a quelling look when she started to stare at him again, liking the way his hair fell around his Pepsi-can blue eyes.

"Do you have anything to drink," Kerry asked abruptly, figuring if she was beginning to compare his eye color to painted aluminum cans instead of the ocean on a calm day or some other blue object which sounded more poetic, then it was probably time that she drink something.

He gestured vaguely in the direction of the couch area. Kerry got up, wandering over until she found a minibar hidden tastefully beside the fake fireplace. There was no Pepsi in it, but she did pull out a bottle of water. As her head was tilted back in order to take a swig, her sight caught on one of those modern sculptures of black flowing lines arranged into a vague figure of a woman. In this room, it wasn't out of place, and her eyes would have passed right over it if she hadn't noticed that the loop of the head-shape was shinier than the rest of it. Kerry put down the water, poking at the knob of art. She placed her hands over the worn spots and twisted.

There was a shlicking noise, sounding a lot like a sword slicing through the air. Kerry jumped back in alarm as the wall above the fireplace slid open, exposing a cache of weapons. "Holy-" she breathed, staring at the display of knives, guns, and some menacing things she didn't even recognize. Kerry picked up a familiar looking gun, thinking it might be the exact one which Marsala had shot Michel with four years ago.

"Curiosity killed the cat, Kerry," Michel said mildly. Kerry turned towards him, sighting down the barrel of the gun she aimed at his forehead. His expression was still calm, but she could see the effort he was projecting to make it seem as though he didn't care that she was threatening his life. Kerry wasn't stupid enough to mistake his reaction as evidence that he wouldn't kill her if she made another move towards him.

"This gun looks familiar," she said, holding it down by her side. "Is it the same one or just the same model?"

Michel smiled, and it wasn't harmless. "Do you think I would risk keeping the gun which was used to try to kill me?"

Yes, Kerry thought, he might. She shrugged, putting the gun back down without taking her eyes off him. She thought about it for a second, and then used her shirt to wipe her prints off it. Once she turned back towards him, he was giving her that congenial smile he always did when he was hiding what he was thinking. Kerry didn't blame him, as she knew her face was as blank as she could make it, but inside her head she was revising her idea of him. He was far more dangerous than she had thought. She knew he wouldn't keep weapons he couldn't use.

"I've found Nelle's location if you want to see it." He edged the computer around so that she could see the screen. Kerry walked towards him, staring at the black and white map with the small flashing beacon. It looked somewhat like google maps, but she knew it was far more complicated than that. There was a logo of one of the government agencies on the bottom left corner, and Kerry could tell that this was definitely fit into the super-secret realm.

"I'm impressed," Kerry told him, her hormones giving her a nice thrill at the idea of him finessing his way through the safety nets and blocks in order to access this program. Since the FBI or CIA weren't knocking down the door, she knew he had done it successfully too. He leaned back in his chair, expression unfathomable. "But tell me," she continued, ignoring the way she wanted to lean over and kiss him. "How do you know its Nelle?"

"Newer vampires are tagged. They tend to be the ones which get into the most trouble. They have less control at that age."

"And they haven't learned how to cover it up yet," Kerry responded cynically.

Michel smiled at her again, his sharp incisors lending a rueful threat to his amusement. "After a few years we untag them, and sometimes put the transmitter in someone else."

"Someone human?" Kerry asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry," he told her, smile getting wider, "you're clean."

"So where is Nelle?" Kerry asked, resisting the urge to rub her skin for any sign of a microchip. She'd never know whether he was lying or not.

"Directly on top of us."

She frowned, looking up.

"Club Vamp."

"Why would she go back there?"

He stared at her for a moment. Kerry knew the weight of it as the look he gave her when he was trying to figure out how much to say. "Club Vampyr isn't just what it appears to be. It's dangerous."

"No shit," Kerry blurted out, mind immediately remembering Nelle being attacked.

"Don't go back there."

"Sure," Kerry told him with a shrug.

"I'm serious, Kerry. Don't." He looked like he was going to make her promise him, then his eyes went dead and he pulled his computer back towards him. "Now that we know that Nelle is safe, I need to check my email."

"Safe?" Kerry argued. "But you just told me it was dangerous there!"

"Not to Nelle."

Kerry wanted to get more information from him, but she could tell from the way he was ignoring her now that she was dismissed. Sighing, she went back into the couch/armory and picked up the remote on the table. She meant to turn the television on to entertain herself, but once she turned the power on, the image on the large screen was not the kind of show she wanted. The image picked up one of the back rooms of Club Vamp, and unless she was very much mistaken, it was the one Nelle had died in. Kerry began clicking buttons, and suddenly the light changed on the image just enough to cause her to look closer. The date stamped on the bottom was last Friday instead of today, and Kerry realized she had moved from live feed into a recording. Though she was slightly expecting it, she still inhaled sharply as that bitch vampire lead her best friend into the room, and the male vampire which had been guarding closed the door. The walls went opaque and immediately the female launched herself at Nelle, dragging her down to the floor.

It was only moments later when Nelle cried out. There were slight movements off camera, the image picking up shadows and corners, and then Kerry saw herself stand on screen. Using the remote, Kerry stopped the image as her profile turned enough towards the camera so she was recognizable, a tremor going down her back at the terrified look on her face in the image. She had already seen a video of what came next.

"You paused it at my favourite part," Michel said, so close to her that she could feel his words shiver down her spine. Kerry turned the television off, arranging her face into a slight smile as she turned towards him. The expression on his face was almost identical to her own and it almost shocked Kerry into dropping the pretense of the smile. She used to think she was molding herself in his image in the days after the attack when she ended up telling more lies than truth to everyone around her. Kerry had needed to be able to school her features, but even though she tried to emulate him, she had never thought that they would end up being so similar. He took the remote from her and turned the video back on.

"You're such a perv," Kerry joked, knowing her eyes were colder than the laughter from her mouth. She wasn't that good yet. She hoped that her effort of joking about the way the white leather pushed her chest up shockingly and the way the camera seemed to be angled right at it was enough of a cover that he didn't suspect what was going through her head. She needed time to think about this one. It wasn't just something she could come right out and accuse Michel of.

But oh God, she knew. She knew.

"Well?" He questioned a few minutes later as the unconscious Kerry and Nathaniel on screen were carried away.

Kerry felt a wonderful buzz in her mind as she turned towards him, as though she wasn't really there mentally. "It seemed to last longer at the time," she told him neutrally. "I knew there was a video because I saw part of it before, but I didn't expect you to have a recording. I don't know why," she explained away her shock. "Obviously it is something you would need to see."

"Yes," he said, watching her carefully.

Kerry let the quiet between them drag. "Who ARE you?"

"You know I'll never answer that question."

"Ok, I'll get more specific," Kerry said, twisting on the couch so she could face him comfortably. "You're called things like The Interrogator, and The Assassin. Tell me about that."

"You don't want me to."

"Why," Kerry joked, half serious. "Because then you'd have to kill me?"

He shot her a look that said that her half serious had more truth than she wanted it to. Then he sighed. "There is a better term for what I am, but I can't tell you what it is. In a healthy vampire society, that position would go to the third strongest vampire. The two above him would be like the president and vice president, and he would protect them as well as the lands they control."

"I see," Kerry said slowly, not really seeing anything. It didn't really explain anything to her, so she looked at his words to see if there was anything in there she could use to help. "What's unhealthy about this vampire society?"

Michel's eyebrows shot up. "I underestimate you sometimes. The boss-" he broke off and put his hand up to stop her from interrupting. "I can't give you the proper terms. Have you ever heard how words can have power? The boss likes to be the only one in control. He's perverting the entire hierarchy by either killing or deporting anyone who could ever challenge him."

"How powerful is he?" Kerry wasn't sure she really understood the term power in this context. The most she had seen of Michel's was his ability to put her to sleep. With a good portion of it tightening in a space inside her, she thought that it had to be more than that.

"I couldn't even explain it to you."

"How powerful are you, then?"

"Me?" Michel chuckled. "I'm not powerful at all. I was hired because of my various talents."

Yeah, at torture, Kerry thought with horror.

Her face must have shown some of what she was thinking because he straightened his shoulders defensively. "Plus I look young and harmless."

Young maybe, Kerry agreed, but she would never see him as harmless. "How powerful would you be without a human storage closet?"

Michel's expression went cold, not unemotional but dangerous. "Make no mistake Kerry. I am not Ethan Bryne. I am not the vampire unwilling to draw attention to myself. I am far more powerful than that boy pretended to be, far more powerful than most of my kind, even." He picked up a gun, checking it to make sure it was primed, and then gracefully slid it into the back of his pants. He watched her for a reaction while he did so and she just stared back thinking about how attractive he seemed right now. He had an edge that she rarely saw, and it told her that he made an effort to make sure she never saw the deadly side of him. She wanted to be afraid of him, knew that anyone sane would be, but she had first fallen for him under threat and she thought that she would think the same way until he finally killed her.

She could feel him flex the power inside of her, trying to amplify her fear, but she wasn't scared of him. It welled beneath her skin, flowing hotly through her blood until her body was in flames. She could feel a pulsing need for him, and knew it wasn't his intention. He had meant to frighten her, but instead she was wet and aching for his touch. Kerry hugged her middle, pushing back on the metaphysical string which seemed to attach them until he took a step back. "Stop," she whimpered.

"Don't," he warned, reaching out with a hand to grab her wrist. Kerry didn't know whether he was trying to intimate her or give comfort, but she backpedaled so quickly that he never got to do either. He watched her, eye unfathomable.

Kerry stared at him with her breath coming in sharp pants. His gorgeous face was empty of even false emotion, but there was something miserable in his eyes beyond the careful mask. "I'm not afraid of you," she said, meaning for it to be reassuring but instead coming out with a throaty chuckle. It teased the air, rolling laughter thick like sex. She walked towards him, her hips swaying so that her skirt rustled against her legs. He stood before her, jaw tense and eyes looking over her head. She put one hand on his chest, and she could see him swallow. Kerry knew that he finally realized his mistake, but the feel of his slowly beating heart beneath her hand took away the necessity for gloating. She was coasting on a high of his power in her blood and it was like a full-body aphrodisiac tempting her to rip his shirt open and bite his perfect white skin above the heart. Her heart pounded, and she could feel herself wet through her underwear. Smiling, Kerry looked up into his eyes. "Can't you smell it?"

"Fuck Kerry," Michel snarled, grabbing her hips and thrusting her against the wall. Her legs were spread open as he held her against him, rocking forward and causing her to gasp. His face was buried against her neck, teeth a mixture of sharp and blunt promises against her heated pulse. He breathed against her skin, causing Kerry to inhale deeply, eyes wide and feverish.

"Yes," she hissed, "fuck me." She curled her legs around his hips, her ankle digging into the gun at the small of his back. He pushed forward, pressing her against the wall. Michel's face pulled away from her neck and Kerry caught a glimpse of his blue eyes staring at her with surprise. In a corner of her mind she wondered if his intention had turned on him, and now instead of her fearing him if he was just the smallest bit weary of her. She didn't have time to obsess about the idea before his head leaned forward. He was about to kiss her for the first time in years, and this time there was no one around to get in the way.

The office door opened. "Hey Mike, I think you need to talk with your newest protégé. Oh. Hi Kerry."

"Oh my God," Kerry moaned in an entirely non-sexual way as she shot Tim an exasperated look. "Your family is worse than a cold shower." Michel let go of her and she slipped her feet to the floor. Kerry swayed slightly, coming down from the rush of electricity he had shot into her. She turned to look at him, still leaning against the wall. Her eyes were soft and she knew she looked enamored and slightly puzzled. It was how she felt, and this time she didn't think she could hide her feelings from anyone.

Michel shot Tim a look as he moved back towards his weapon cache and picked up two wrist sheaths, tightening them around his forearms with an ease that spoke of familiarity. His hand hovered over a second gun before he picked up an ammo clip instead and slid it into his pocket. She knew that he had been hiding this aspect from her for the past few days, and now that she had found him out he wasn't going to bother worrying about her comfort or appearances. It wasn't Kerry he had been protecting, but the human girl he was supposed to appear harmless to and woo. It made her revise her disbelief that appearing young and harmless was one of his talents. He had managed to hide from her that he preferred to be armed and dangerous, hadn't he? She wasn't sure letting go of that façade that boded well for the plan for him to seduce information out of her. Of course, with the rate they were going, it was likely they would never even get that first kiss.

"Stay with Kerry," he told Tim. "She's curious. I don't want her wandering around the compound."

"Righto, boss."

"Is she upstairs?" The "she" Michel was referring to this time was some other girl, Kerry realized, maybe even Nelle.

"Yeah, she's getting in real good with the headman."

Michel sighed, but his body tensed instead of relaxed. He looked like someone very resigned to a bad fate, but who knew they weren't going to go down without a fight. He moved towards the door, and then pivoted in a move she couldn't follow. In the next instant he was in front of her, hand tilting her head back as his lips pressed harshly against hers. His fingers moved down her jaw, brushing intimately against her neck as his lips softened enough so that he could pull her bottom lip into his mouth and bite down gently. Kerry made a small noise of encouragement from the back of her throat as she felt his teeth nip at her delicate flesh, then his tongue gently sweeping over the same area. Michel pulled away, and when she opened her eyes with a smile across her lips he was no longer in the room.

©RelenaFanel.Aug12.2007

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I've been sitting on this chapter for a month debating whether I should post it as is, or change the whole fear thing. My Beta Reader loved it, but said there was something she needed to talk about, and then I didn't hear from her again for weeks. I still don't know what it is she wanted to say. So, my invaluable readers, what is your opinion? 

Please Review.


	18. Chapter 18

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 18_

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"Sooooo," Tim said, sitting on the couch beside Kerry. His word trailed off and it didn't seem like he had anything further to follow up. Instead of alleviating the discomfort between them, it elevated it.

"So?" Kerry repeated, knowing there wasn't really anything to say until they cleared the air. She also knew she wouldn't be doing any explaining to Nathaniel's father. Talk about AWKWARD.

"You and Mike really hit it off, eh?"

Kerry managed to hide her displeasure at him calling Michel 'Mike'. She would never be able to see him as someone with such a common English name. It just didn't fit. She wasn't even sure how she could have believed he was an Ethan. "I guess so," she responded. They resumed the smothering silence between them. "Is he going after Nelle?"

"Yeah. She's his responsibility."

"Is she okay?" Kerry was more worried about her friend's safety than wondering about the fact that she was Michel's responsibility.

Tim looked across the couch, weighing whether or not he should tell her. Kerry knew the look. "She's fine."

"But?" One thing she hated was being deliberately left in the dark in such a way that it was obvious that facts were being kept from her. If someone was going to keep things from her, they may as well just lie right off the bat. At least that way there was a chance she would believe them. A very slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.

"She's become a source of amusement for our boss. Michael was trying to hide her, but I doubt it will be possible anymore."

"Hide her?" Kerry asked. "But didn't he make her?"

"Michael or the boss?"

"The boss."

"No."

Kerry frowned, her mind starting to plot again. "They're upstairs, right?"

Tim didn't respond.

"Would we be able to watch on the surveillance?" She asked, picking up the remote. Tim threw her a startled look. Then his gaze turned thoughtful as he allowed her to turn on the screen. Kerry flipped through the channels until she picked Michel up in the elevator.

"I know you haven't known Michael for very long, but I can't see him just telling you about this." The question was implied: how did she know?

Kerry was slightly surprised that Tim hadn't come across the fact that Kerry and Michel went farther back than a few days. She was about to tell him the truth, sure that Nathaniel would say something at some point in the near future, when Michel moving in the elevator drew her attention. He stared right at the camera, his image never wavering like it would on shoddier images. His blue eyes seemed to look right at her, and his head shook slightly. No, he seemed to say, somehow warning her without being in the room. Kerry jumped slightly, unnerved by his omniscience. But she took his advice. "I don't understand what you mean," she responded, playing stupid. She wondered if she would get a nod of approval from Michel this time.

"You really are enchanted aren't you?" Tim asked, watching her watch the television.

"He's a great guy," Kerry responded.

"Michael doesn't suffer fools easily. He'd more likely kill you than let you in."

This time, Kerry turned her attention fully towards Tim, still unsure of what to say. She let her eyes get wide and hoped he mistook the beating of her heart as fear. What she was really thinking, however, was that she and Michel had already been down this road years ago, and she must have passed some test because she was still alive. Once again, a potential threat from the man she had fallen for years ago wasn't enough for Kerry to fear him. She didn't think she would be truly scared of Michel until after he killed her. "This isn't a potential marriage," Kerry told Tim, dismissing his warning. "It's only been a few dates."

Tim looked unsure, as if he disbelieved her. Kerry ignored him, squashing down a small bit of guilt as she turned her attention back to the television. Michel was no longer on camera. Kerry's eyes widened and she frantically flipped through the channels, her eyes scanning the crowd of people gathered in Club Vamp. She couldn't find him within the hordes of writhing dancers and drunken patrons, but her eyes did spot her best friend lounging seductively against the bar. She was talking in hushed whispers to a man who Kerry couldn't quite see. She wasn't sure why his face was swarthed in shadow, for the camera angle was good and there was no one in the way of the image.

Warning bells went off in Kerry's mind, and she realized that this man must be the boss. Her fingers clutched around the remote and she barely noticed the plastic digging into her palm. Tim's look became darker, and he frowned with his discomfort at the situation. Though Kerry was aware in the back of her mind that Tim wasn't someone she should trust a hundred percent, her estimation of him as an ally plummeted. "Who is that with her," Kerry mused. "He looks familiar."

"You've met him?" Tim jumped visibly, and Kerry wondered what was making him so nervous.

"I don't think so," Kerry said slowly, taking more of an interest on the man with Nelle instead of on her friend. "Maybe it's just the way he's sitting," she mused with a frown. "Does Michel sit like that?"

"Uh…" Tim hedged.

"You know what I mean. That boneless slump he does that appears both insolent and aware at the same time."

"I think you see him differently than I do." Tim looked uncomfortable again. Kerry wisely shut her mouth, knowing that what she was describing spoke of far more familiarity with his person than Kerry had admitted to.

"Probably," she muttered.

"He is an attractive man," Tim mused, and Kerry wondered how they had gotten on the topic of Michel's good looks. She thought that maybe Tim was deliberately guiding the subject away from the image on the screen. "He looks so young that sometimes I forget that he's really…" Tim broke off.

Kerry's heart was pounding as she mentally urged Tim to continue what he was saying. Almost! She was soooo close to finding out Michel's real age after all these years. It was Michel's greatest mystery, and Tim was about to just blurt it out like it was nothing. She'd been wondering how old Michel was since she knew him as Ethan!

"Has he told you his age yet?" Tim asked.

She hesitated for a moment, seeing Michel saunter on to the monitor screen. She wasn't sure if she should lie to Tim and see if he would inadvertently tell her the truth, but once she saw Michel walking on camera, she knew she couldn't do that. The only person she would be happy hearing it from was him. "No, he never told me."

Tim wisely kept his mouth shut, watching Kerry as she stared at the television screen.

Kerry didn't notice his attention, she was too caught up watching the vampire in her life calmly walk up to his boss. Even in the crowded room, she could see his air of confidence, and she could pick him out of the crush of people with an innate ability bred from familiarity and something more. He walked leisurely, like a man who was approaching a few friends, and even knowing what she did, Kerry could not pick out a single weapon hidden on his person. She wondered if the vampire boss could.

"Can you tell where he has his weapons hidden?" she asked Tim, curious to a fault.

"Yeah."

"Really? How?"

"The gun leaves a line in his clothing. The blades are far harder to detect, but he has to watch the way he moves while wearing them, so if someone knows where to look, they are also noticeable."

"Does your boss know where to look?" Kerry asked, staring at Michel with a new sense of worry. Usually, she figured he could take care of himself, but that didn't stop her from hoping nothing happened to him.

"You forget that Michel's job is to be armed. It would look strange if he wasn't carrying."

Since Kerry thought he looked strange when he was, she wisely kept quiet about the whole thing. Turning her attention back to the monitor, she now felt Tim's appraising glance at the side of her head and she wondered if he actually did know about her past with Michel. Something was off, and it was causing irate butterfly wings to beat against her stomach. She felt as though she were observing a suspense thriller movie, and couldn't figure out the ending. While it was a great thing to do on a slow Saturday night, applying it to her life was just frightening.

Michel paused in front of the bar, and the angle of the camera afforded Kerry a glimpse of Nelle leaning against the seated man. She still couldn't see the man's features, though there weren't any obvious obstructions to her line of view. It was bathed in shadows, like a dark veil over a widow's face, and Kerry could only hope the image distance and the flickering faux-candles were at fault. She knew this man was the boss because of the deference Michel's posture held as well as the fact Nelle was burrowed to his side.

"I'm glad Nathaniel's not here," she said conversationally to Tim.

Time grunted.

"Can you see his face?"

"His back is to me just as much as it is to you. Just because I'm sitting at a different angle doesn't mean there is a 3-D effect going on with the screen."

"Not Michel! The other guy!" Kerry seethed, but she was starting to wonder if this was Tim's form of defense to get from telling the truth. Michel lied easily and swiftly, and Tim deflected with an insult so the other person was too furious to remember the initial question.

In the club, Michel pulled Nelle to his side with a sharp tug, causing her to stumble forwards. He leaned towards his boss, saying something he emphasized by shaking Nelle's wrist. Michel nodded his head curtly, turning to move away, but Nelle dug her heels in and refused to move, screaming something with her face contorted in fury. Michel jerked her back towards him, hissing something in her ear.

"Does this thing have sound?" Kerry asked, completely riveted. It was like watching The OC on mute.

"Yeah, but it would take a team of highly specialized audio-techs weeks to isolate that one conversation from the rest in the club."

Kerry sighed, and then was struck by an idea. "Can you read their lips and tell me what they're saying?"

"No."

"Vampire skills not that good yet?"

"Oh," Tim said, sounding slightly surprised she had misunderstood him. "I can read their lips. I just can't tell you what they're saying."

"Thanks," Kerry responded with sarcasm, staring at Michel's mouth. As far as she could discern, the words emerging from it were 'blah blah blah', but she kept watch anyway, feeling slightly perverted.

"You have to stop being so obvious about what you're thinking."

"What?" Kerry turned her attention away from the TV. "Why?"

"Do you remember Samantha from Sex and the City? How about Brian from Queer as Folk? Michel thinks of relationships in terms of one-night-stands and short-lived affairs. If he sees you giving him moon-eyes, he'll run away quicker than you'll be able to blink."

"I barely even know him. I'm not about to fall in love in only three days." With a sense of irony, Kerry turned her attention back to the television. Her mind was whispering soft hopeful words about how even Samantha and Brian ended up in falling for a single person, and with a strong sense of self-preservation, she squashed those optimistic thoughts. Michel was no longer on screen, and after a few quick flips she picked him up again heading towards the rear of the club, past the privacy rooms, and towards a back elevators. One of his hands was still firmly wrapped around Nelle's wrist, and though Kerry's friend looked reluctant to be following, she trailed behind with subdued obedience.

Once in the elevator, Kerry had to scramble through the channels again. Finally, the two of them standing inside the metal box filled the screen. Michel stood in silence, seemingly relaxed, but Nelle had her arms crossed over her chest and one hip cocked. It was her angry, confrontational stance, and Kerry had enough experience with it that she didn't need to see the deep scowl across Nelle's face to know what was going to happen.

In the elevator, Nelle whipped around, her long hair snapping with her, and drilled her pointer finger at Michel. He said something back to her calmly, his serious eyes steady on her face. Nelle slapped him and he whipped her around, pushing her face first into the wall and holding her there. Despite the fact the motion hadn't been as brutal as he could have made it, Kerry still winced, feeling distinctly uncomfortable as Michel leaned against Nelle's back and whispered something in her ear. His hand strayed against her neck as he brushed her hair away with a conspicuous softness, and Kerry could feel a bitter jealousy welling up inside her chest at the sight.

It was a good thing she didn't love him anymore.

Tim wisely kept his mouth shut, but he still watched her reaction more than he looked at the screen. Kerry schooled her features into a blank mask worthy of any vampire, but she couldn't take her eyes away as Nelle shot Michel a look of hatred, pushing past him as the doors to the elevator opened, allowing a spill of light to enter the small box. Michel raised his eyes, shooting the camera a shrewd look before exiting after his charge. Kerry blushed, her hot blood pooling beneath the skin as she thought of him knowing her that well, and mocking it. Frantically, she pointed the remote-control at the television and turned it off, sitting demurely on the couch with it clutched in her cold hands. She paused for a moment, then turned the screen back on, changing the picture back to the original feed.

"It doesn't matter if you cover it up. He'll still know you were spying."

"I know," Kerry said. "Are you going to tell him?"

Tim grinned at her, the smile so much like Nathaniel's that they looked to be twins for a moment. Of course, for the true effect, Tim would have to dye his hair green or whatever the choice du jour was. "Naw. Just don't be surprised if he knows anyway."

Kerry knew that. No matter how much she liked to think she had a handle on Michel's character, he always would surprise her. This was one instance, however, that she had a pretty good idea of what he knew. She also thought that maybe he wanted her to watch and had set it up so she could. Why else would he have allowed her to find the security feed? What she couldn't figure out was WHY. Did he want her to see the trouble he was going through for Nelle? Or was it something else?

Fifteen minutes later Michel returned to find Kerry sitting at his computer playing solitaire. She was a bundle of nerves wondering what, or who, he could have been doing during that time. It was difficult to convince herself that she wasn't jealous of Nelle when she wanted to go search them out, and the moment she saw him walk through the door, Kerry had to war against her instincts to jump up and demand to know where he was. Tim was a source of strength at her back for the sole reason that she refused to make a fool of herself with someone else in the room. He kept saying things like '7 of diamonds on 8 of clubs', but she knew he was really ensuring that she didn't go digging in the confidential files surely stored on the computer.

"How's Nelle?" Kerry asked, almost choking on the words. She had never considered that her best friend and Michel would now be together for a possible eternity. She had been so happy that Nelle was alive, and she still was, but now reality was intruding on the joy. She should be worried about her best friend, not worried her best friend was now boffing Michel. With a deep sigh, Kerry tried to expel all her negativity and focus on the real issue.

"She's safe for the moment. Unfortunately, she's caught his attention now." Michel and Tim exchanged looks, and Kerry watched the mutual understanding between them, even though she didn't understand what it meant. She felt a sense of foreboding, instinctively feeling that life was about to get even more complicated.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing you need to know," Michel said curtly. Since it wasn't often he completely shut her out without at least making up a decent story beforehand, Kerry simply nodded in response to him. His eyebrows rose as she assented, obviously prepared for a fight or further questions.

Those would come later, Kerry told herself. She wasn't going to let go of the issue that easily. He'd be a fool to believe it.

Michel turned his attention to Tim. "Make sure that Nelle is put under the care of Amelia," he said in low tones, but not low enough that she couldn't hear. He then said something softer, and she couldn't make that out at all. If she thought leaning forward would help, she would have completely lost face to find out what it was he didn't want her to hear, but she knew that even if she was standing beside them, she'd still have trouble hearing.

Tim nodded, politely saying goodbye to Kerry, then left.

Being alone with Michel was far more awkward than Kerry had expected. When he had left less than an hour before, she expected their reunion to sizzle, for him to grab her and kiss her, and other adolescent fantasies. Instead, she watched out of the corner of her eye as he ignored her, opening a hidden filing cabinet in the wall of his office. Kerry sighed, winning at solitaire. Quickly glancing at him again and finding him pouring over the papers in front of him intensely, she minimized the game window and quickly clicked on the My Documents file icon.

"Solitaire is safer for your health," he said without looking up, and suddenly they were talking about more than a game.

Kerry's eyes flicked guiltily to him. "Heartbeat?"

"Barely hitched. You're getting better."

"Oh goodie," Kerry snarked. "Soon I'll be a master liar like you."

"Unlikely. I'll still have years on you."

"Because you're an old man."

"And don't you forget it," when she didn't smile as he did, Michel finally put down the papers in his hand and turned towards her. "Ok, what's up?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying," she lied. "Weren't we just through this? How can I lie if you know when I'm lying?"

"You can't! Which is how I knew you were lying."

"Are you deliberately being confusing?"

"No, but you're deliberately complicating the subject. WHAT is the matter?" He stood, stepping towards her. She frowned at him and he paused with his palms up in an innocent, reconciliatory gesture. "Come here," he said.

"No way," she turned her attention back towards her game, sensing him move because of her dismissal more than seeing it. Suddenly, he was in her face, his blue eyes piercing painfully into hers, a torture which made her wish to confess all her secrets. He moved forward to kiss her, and she jerked back, blurting out, "Are you having sex with Nelle?"

"Where did you get that idea?" he asked with his stupid, meaningless smile.

Liar! She screamed mentally, hating his eyes. "Are you, or aren't you? I'm sick of the way you deflect my questions."

"Kerry," he said softly, as if this new answer explained everything. "I changed her."

* * *

©RelenaFanel.Oct12.2007 


	19. Chapter 19

Club Vampyr

Chapter 19

* * *

"What?" Kerry asked in a whisper. She took a deep breath, "I need a second." She was not aware of the expressions flittering across her face – the confused frown of her eyes, and the shocked 'oh' of her mouth – but she was aware of the thoughts of betrayal circling in her head. "But Tim said his boss…"

"I'm Tim's boss," Michel reminded her.

"Your boss, then. I assumed he was the one who changed her."

"No. Which is why he's so dangerous to her. He likes the new ones, and he hates me enough to assume she means something to me."

"Does she?"

"She was a means to an end."

It infuriated Kerry to hear him speak of her best friend in such an unemotional manner, but at the same time she was grateful for that answer. She didn't think she could have dealt with learning Nelle was now his. She still felt a sense of ownership towards Michel, as though he was somehow hers because she met him first.

"But I don't think you really get it," he continued. "He likes mind games at first, and then he gets mean. It isn't only Nelle who is in danger."

"You think he'll come after me?"

"I think if he knew about the past, he would have started already. All you need to know is to stay away from him."

"Good plan," Kerry said. "And how am I supposed to do that without knowing what he looks like?"

This time, Michel did look startled. "Weren't you watching?"

"Of course I was!" She exclaimed. Michel grinned smugly, probably because he knew her well enough to subtly manipulate her into acting as he wanted, using her own curiosity against her. Kerry scowled at him. "But how am I supposed to stay away from someone whose face I couldn't see?"

"I checked the camera position. I made sure you had excellent visibility and I wasn't standing in front of it."

"No, you weren't. It was like his face was masked by shadows," Kerry muttered, beginning to feel like it was her fault.

Michel looked slightly surprised, and then frowned the smallest bit.

Kerry began to worry. "What is it?" She didn't like it when Michel's dark eyebrows rose the way they did. It rarely meant good things when she managed to surprise him, except for maybe when she did so out of her own stupidity.

"Obviously, he knew someone was watching. He rarely ever bothers to hide his face." Michel shrugged as though he wasn't concerned and moved from the desk.

"How could he know?" Kerry demanded, her questions coming out more rapidly now that he was moving away from her. "What does that mean? Am I in more danger now?" He crossed over to his gun cache and allowed the wall to open to reveal the display. "More importantly," Kerry continued, "what does that mean for you?"

Michel looked at her, his blue eyes immediately locking with hers. Kerry knew she asked the right question. "Nothing," he answered shortly.

"Nothing!" Kerry echoed. "Don't give me that. What if he knows?"

"Kerry," Michel started, the tone of his voice reminding her of how he used to say her name when he finally had enough of her questions. "You're thinking too much."

And you aren't thinking enough, she wanted to snap back at him, but wisely kept her mouth shut. Michel was one of the only people she knew who would make sure he got out of a situation alive. He probably had about five contingency plans in place to maximize his survival. "Do me a favour. Try to make sure I live through this too."

"Do you really want to owe me that much of a debt?" he asked mildly, finally picking out a gun from the rack, and replacing the one he already had on him. He held on to the gun he had in his belt, and Kerry would have wondered briefly at the reason he would change weapons when there didn't seem to be much of a current threat if he hadn't currently manage to divert her attention with his question.

"Debt! You owe ME!"

"That life has already been repaid," he told her, crossing the room and placing the gun he had been carrying earlier beside her. "This is now yours." Kerry moved automatically to pick it up, the metal surprisingly cool despite his touch, and yet hot beneath her palm. She couldn't take the last step and allow her fingers to curl around the butt.

"Repaid? Are you referring to the fact you let me live?" Kerry asked crossly, wanting to aim the gun at him.

"No."

"Then what? Nelle?"

He ignored her, placing his hand over hers and the gun. He leaned forward, his blue eyes a tangible beauty. "Do you know how to use one of these?"

Kerry nodded. "After the incident a few years ago one of my dad's ex-marine friends took me to a shooting range a few times."

"I bet you're amazing," he breathed against the pulse of her neck, causing her skin to flush. Kerry swallowed as his fingers softly brushed the skin of her cheek, the caress so gentle, it was like a feather tickling skin. Like always, he changed the situation to fit his purpose. He continued speaking, "You threw me for a loop that first night when you said you didn't love me anymore."

"Why are you bringing that up now?" she asked, allowing her warm breath to slide across his neck. Turnabout was fair play.

"Because, what I wanted to tell you that night was that I turned Nelle."

"Are you having sex with her," she asked again, ignoring what seemed to be an apology for keeping another secret.

"Would it bother you if I was?"

"Yes."

"I'm not," he said, pressing his mouth against her pulse. It jumped beneath his lips, and Kerry wondered just how much restraint he had. She leaned into him, allowing the quick rhythm of her heart to beat against the soft press of his cool kiss.

"Michel," she warned. "This is the reason I told you I don't love you."

"Kerry," he said, mimicking her habit of using his name when she was trying to be serious. "You know I don't care for love."

She pulled away harshly, rolling back on his computer chair farther than she meant to. Fortunately, it put her out of his immediate reach, though she knew it would take little effort on his part to bridge the gap. He stared at her sardonically. "Bastard," she said.

Michel smiled.

"Sometimes I really think you're bipolar," she muttered, staring at the computer screen as the screensaver clicked on. She watched the image of herself in that foolish white corset, her back arched and face contorted into a snarl. It was the hissing scene, and it was set to repeat. "What is THAT doing there?"

Michel spread the fingers of his hand, hitting the mouse so that her game of solitaire flickered back on the screen. "I don't know," he said calmly, looking her straight in the eye. It was a sure sign he was lying, but she didn't need familiarity with his habits to tell her that.

Kerry crossed her arms over her chest. "Do we need to talk about this?"

"Talk about what?"

Kerry glared.

"No."

She was silent for a moment. "Ok. I have to know. Why is that your screensaver?"

"Because it turns me on?"

"I think you're lying."

Michel shrugged. "What can I say? We've already established how good I am at it."

"Eugh! I want to go home. Now!"

Michel complied with little fanfare. It wasn't until they were in the car that he spoke again, since she determined it wouldn't be her who said something first. "Tonight has been a productive night for you."

"What do you mean?"

"You've forced answers for things I would rather not have admitted unless necessary."

"I think it was pretty damn necessary," Kerry said crossly. "I think there is a lot more you should be telling me that is equally as necessary."

"This is why we'd never get along."

Kerry's heart tripped. "What do you mean?" she repeated. "We get along fine."

"When? All those times you accused me of lying? All those times I actually was lying, and manipulating, and toying with you? Oh, I know, how about those three nights you were scared shitless of me?" His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.

"Yes!" Kerry said anxiously. "Yes."

"That's messed up." He looked at her from the corner of his eye, his dark hair masking the deep blue color.

"We're messed up," she responded stubbornly.

"Kerry," Michel warned.

"But you're also forgetting that we haven't been like that since we met the second time. We got along fine that night at the movies."

"There is no 'we'."

"When people spend time together, there is always a 'we'," she said obstinately.

Michel slapped the steering wheel with his palm. "Don't you understand? I'm trying to make this easier for you."

"To hate you? I get it." Kerry crossed her arms under her chest, staring out the window so she wouldn't have to look at him. With the darkness and passing streetlights outside, it just served to make the window into a reflecting surface, so his wavering image was still over her shoulder. "I somewhat even get why. What you don't get is that hate and love are too strong a category to put my emotions into, and these obvious attempts at pissing me off will only amuse me once I gain some distance from your annoying and smirking face!"

"You are angry," he pointed out, but there was no smugness behind his tone.

"You're still a bastard." Kerry turned away from the window as they pulled up in front of her apartment. She gathered her things off the floor where she had left them.

"I know." He paused. "Look, the screensaver isn't all that important. It's to remind me to get back to work and ground my focus when I haven't moved for a while."

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said as a peace offering back.

.x.

Kerry wasn't sure how it happened, but on her walk back from classes the next day she found herself smiling about Michel's screensaver. In the image, she looked like a piece of artwork by Victoria Frances, but what really struck her as ironic was the moment he had chosen to display. Out of every second of footage from that night, he had picked the one second where she was channeling his powers. She didn't think he was attracted by her palpable fear and heaving cleavage, and she knew he wasn't worried or frightened by the strange and inexplicable power radiating off the human girl. What she did believe was that he was concerned that his secret could come out in her one second of reaction, and so he was displaying it to remind himself of his tenuous situation.

It was in that moment that she realized that the real reason he had saved her life during the vampire attack the other night had been because he needed to protect his power source. She could remember what he said to her last night about how if she died his power would rush back into his body and he wouldn't be able to hide it, though it seemed like that conversation had been ages ago. Lost in thought, she stepped out into traffic on automatic, not even seeing the don't-walk sign.

"Whoa there," a voice behind her said, the man grabbing her by the upper arm and pulling her back to the sidewalk. He put his hands up once she stumbled backwards and turned to shoot the stranger a glare. "Sorry. I didn't mean to take liberties. You just looked like someone deep in thought and I figured you didn't really want to be hit by a car. If I was wrong, then by all means run into traffic. I won't be a hero this time."

"Thank you," Kerry muttered, slightly embarrassed. She didn't know this man, though there was a nagging feeling she had seen him before, but she couldn't place where.

"Andrew Howard," he introduced himself, offering his hand. "And don't take this as a poor excuse as a pickup line, but I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before."

"I'm Kerry," she replied awkwardly, allowing him to give her hand a quick shake. She deliberately left her last name off the introduction. She really was suspicious by nature. "I'm sure you say that to all the girls you pull out of oncoming traffic." The sign finally said walk, and she stepped back on the crosswalk. "Thanks for the save," she called over her shoulder, hurrying across the street as quickly as she could. Don't trust anyone, the voice in her head whispered. She was sure that guy had been above board and not some stooge the vampires had sent to kill her, especially since he had possibly saved her life, but that didn't turn her into a fool – even if he had been good looking, if slightly too old for her.

Of course, he was probably years younger than the guy she was currently pretending to see.

Kerry got home and quickly started her homework. The required readings she had to do for the week seemed to be never-ending, and she hadn't even started the ones she was supposed to do over the previous weekend yet. Kerry knew that once the sun went down, she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything anyway, and that prediction came true. Shortly after sundown, Nathaniel sauntered into her apartment, heading towards the kitchen first and digging through her fridge.

"Don't you have anything good to eat?"

"When the heck am I supposed to find time to shop?" Kerry called back from her seat on the couch. A highlighter was clenched in her mouth, and she formed her words around them. "I barely have time to sleep!"

"You need to stop these wild party habits of staying out until three in the morning," he pointed out, gnawing on a chunk of frozen chocolate.

Kerry paused as she looked up at him, her highlighter falling out of her mouth in shock. "Oh, you didn't."

"Wha?" Nathaniel asked innocently from around the Hershey bar.

Kerry fumed. "Don't you know not to come between a girl and her chocolate?" she seethed.

He observed her for a second, then pulled the bar out from where it was stuck on his front teeth and handed it to her. "You look like you need this way more than I do."

"Thanks," she responded sarcastically, looking at the chocolate with the imprint of his teeth. She shrugged, savagely breaking off a chunk and passing it back to him.

"Whoa. Hostile. What did he do now?"

"Nothing," Kerry lied, depressed. "Did you hear that he found Nelle, and she's safe for the moment?" Kerry made sure to attribute the success to Michel. It wouldn't hurt for Nathaniel to think a little better of him.

"Yeah. Dad called. He also said he caught the two of you making out."

"That's none of your dad's business!" Kerry said hotly, jumping up from the couch and staring down at him with her hands on her hips.

"Holy fuck, Ker. What are you doing? He's dangerous."

"I know."

"Sit down," Nathaniel demanded, "I'm not done."

Kerry complied, more intrigued by Nathaniel giving orders than she was concerned about listening to him. "What lecture do you have for me today?"

"He eats people like you for lunch."

"People like me?"

"Trusting. Naïve."

"You think I'm trusting and naïve?" Kerry echoed with surprise. That was exactly the opposite of what she would have said about herself.

"You're playing suck-face with a vampire!"

"So'd your mom!"

"Don't bring my mother into this!"

"Fine!" Kerry snapped, and then got control over her emotions. "There isn't much difference between what I'm doing with Michel and what you're doing with Nelle."

"I knew Nelle when she was human. I know her core personality, I know her facial expressions, and I know how she thinks. Do you even know what Michael is really like? Do you know anything about him?"

"No."

"You know nothing about what these older and more powerful vampires can be like. They look for games to play to alleviate their boredom."

"I know. And Michel isn't the one I have to be concerned about." She pulled the gun out from where she had hidden it between the couch cushions. She placed it on her lap to emphasize her point, the barrel pointing towards the center of the room. "He's worried."

"Oh, fuck me," Nathaniel exclaimed eloquently.

They had a moment to appreciate the profoundness of that statement before the phone rang. Kerry dove for it, her sense of time telling her it had been at least an hour since the sun had set.

"Hello?" She asked, picking up the cordless phone and immediately crossing into the kitchen. She didn't recognize the caller ID, which meant it probably wasn't her father, but she wasn't a hundred percent sure it was who she wanted it to be, either.

"Do you want to try for that date again tonight?"

"Of course," Kerry said, her breath hitching with his question.

"I'll pick you up in an hour."

"Wait," she said rapidly, preventing him from hanging up before she could ask her question. "Where are we going?"

"You can wear jeans and sneakers," he promised, avoiding the question and at the same time proving he knew a decent amount about women. "Or that white skirt."

Kerry laughed. "I'm only wearing sneakers if we're going to hang out in a cemetery."

"A cemetery?" he asked incredulously. "Really Kerry. Could you be more cliché?"

"Not even if I tried."

Michel paused. "You may be walking, but I promise there will be no graveyards or abandoned subway stations."

"This already sounds better than some of the other places we've been."

"Why do you continuously remind me that—" Michel broke off, the sound of other people rustling in the background. "I've got to go. Later."

Kerry hung up the phone with a smile, only to encounter Nathaniel standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, the gun hanging loosely from his fingers. "What?" she asked defensively, stalking up to him and grabbing the weapon. She glared at him for a second, brushing by on her way to get ready for her date. Pausing half way to her room, she turned back. "Yesterday you seemed to support us going out, and today you're giving me the protective dad glower."

"If only. At least I know you'd listen to your dad if he told you you were making a huge mistake in judgment."

Kerry frowned stubbornly. "Not this time."

"Really?" Nathaniel questioned, not sounding as though he believed her. "But you're such a daddy's girl. What would you do if I called him and explained the situation?"

"Try it," Kerry dared. "Do you think you could take the cold shoulder I would give you for the rest of your life?"

"At least you'd be alive for it."

"I know the risk," Kerry snapped. "But remember that it was you who first forced me to go to Club Vampyr. I'm just attempting to make the best of the situation. My survival hinges on Michel!" Kerry closed her bedroom door with a sense of finality.

When Kerry exited her room close to an hour later Nathaniel was gone, as was the rest of her chocolate. "Bugger," she muttered, shoving her feet into a pair of ballet flats. She was wearing jeans, the leg wide enough to hide the fact she was wearing bulky mansocks stolen from her father under the nice shoes. Her blouse was charcoal grey and flowing, classy enough for a restaurant, but casual so it wouldn't be overkill if he took her to the movies again. She hated dressing for dates, as so much compromise went into the outfits. It was an art she hadn't quite mastered. She couldn't wear the fancy dress to the movies, and a sweater would be conspicuous in a more formal area. Usually, she wasn't all that concerned with getting the proper image on these dates, but for some reason she always strived to show Michel she was attractive.

When she wasn't trying to make him believe she didn't care what he thought, that was.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, opening the door when he knocked. "What's the temperature out? Light-weight or winter?" She opened the sliding door to her coat closet, wondering if Nelle would care if she borrowed her cute brown jacket.

"Below freezing," Michel responded, looking at her with one of his trademark unfathomable expressions.

Kerry pulled out the black wool coat and shrugged into it, surveying his face. "What's wrong? Are we postponing again?"

"What? No. Are you ready?"

"That depends. Am I dressed properly?"

"You're fine," he told her, holding the door open for her to exit before he did. It had not been the response she was looking for. Kerry locked the door behind them, trailing behind him down the hallway.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," he reminded, pressing the elevator button to the basement. Kerry didn't know how he had managed to get a parking space actually inside the building without proof of lease, but if anyone could manage it, it was him.

"You aren't kidnapping me, are you?"

He just looked at her again, mild annoyance across his classic features.

Kerry grinned.

"Stop antagonizing me," he warned, stepping off the elevator with his car key in hand.

"Or what?" she pressed. "You'll threaten my life." She wasn't sure how safe it was to goad him in an isolated underground garage, but she had never really learned the concept of limits when it came to her conversations with the vampire.

"How about your brother's. Ian was it?"

Kerry stopped cold. "Don't bring my brother into this. That is sooo uncalled for. This is between you and me."

"I agree," Michel said calmly, automatically unlocking the doors to a nearby SUV with his keychain. He opened the passenger side door for her, and she slid in, glad she wasn't wearing a skirt. Five minutes into the date and they were already at each other's throats. There was something in what he said that struck her as more than an idle threat, and they were on the road before she thought of a way to phrase a question.

"Was that a warning?"

"You can take it however you want." Michel turned the car in the direction of the business district. "How was your day?"

"Okay," she answered, picking at her fingernails and staring at him out of the corner of her eye in the dim light, and then continued speaking so they wouldn't have to sit in silence this time. "I almost got hit by a car. Nathaniel's mad at you, and therefore me by proxy—"

"Or the other way around. He's angry at you and so hates me by proxy."

"True," she agreed. "I'm sure there are tons of reasons for him to be angry with me."

Silence.

"How's school?"

"I'm behind on my readings. I was actually thinking about it in my class today. This thing," she waved her hand for emphasis, "could take months. I don't know if I can keep living in this state of constant fear for that long."

"It'll be over soon," he promised.

"But what if it isn't? Soon probably has a different meaning to vampires. In your version of soon I could be thirty, or older."

"It'll be over soon. If not, you won't have to worry about thirty."

Kerry froze in horror, gaping at him across the expanse of the seats. "Does that mean what I think it does?"

"The fact that your life is under threat isn't a new piece of information. I can't make it all better."

"I wish you could."

Michel sighed. "Sometimes I do too." He turned the blinker on, smoothly pulling into the parking lot of a mall.

"You're taking me shopping?" Kerry questioned, mentally calculating her bank account and wondering if she could afford new clothing right now. She had a moment of anxiety that maybe he hated the way she was dressed, and then she brushed it off as a foolish thing to think of.

"I could if you want, but I had something else in mind," Michel said cryptically, getting out of the parked vehicle. Kerry slid out her side, knowing is she hesitated long enough he'd open the door for her. "Come on," he urged from the front of the car, holding his hand out to her. Kerry wondered if he was willing to hold her hand to present an image of unity to other people or if he was telling her this was really a date. She hesitated for a moment before sliding her palm against his. His hand was warm, if not humanly hot, and she knew he had taken that hour for a meal.

©RelenaFanel.Nov22.2007


	20. Chapter 20

**Club Vampyr**

_Chapter 20_

* * *

They entered the mall, Christmas decorations already hanging from the ceiling. They were nondenominational, but she enjoyed the glitter of silvers and reds more than she did nativity scenes. It felt like magic, like she'd been transported to another world – one where she didn't have to worry about death, if only for a moment. Red ribbons were bright contrasts against the faux evergreen boughs, and silver tinsel and lights sparkled overhead, recreating and embellishing the shine of fresh snow on a clear night. Kerry inhaled deeply, and for a moment the tense set of her shoulders relaxed.

Kerry smiled, staring at the ceiling as they walked and slightly swinging her arm. Michel's fingers tightened around hers as he drew her to a halt.

"Skating?" Kerry asked in surprise, finally noticing they were standing in front of the indoor rink. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, even as they twinkled with pleasure. "Have you been talking to Nelle?"

"Nelle doesn't know about," Michel hesitated for a fraction of a second, "us."

"Then who told you?" Kerry asked, half teasing and half serious.

"Told me what?" he asked innocently, guiding her towards the skate rental booth.

"Are you telling me you didn't know? You've read my diary, haven't you?"

"No. Not yet, anyway. I guess I've either done something right, or something incredibly wrong, haven't I?"

Kerry remained silent, though the grin still curled the edge of her lips. He ordered the correct skate size for her, reinforcing her sense that he had researched this idea. If not, it made her wonder why he knew her skate size, which was half a size larger than her shoe size.

"Do I need to buy you socks?" he asked, paying as she immediately sat down at the nearest bench to pull the skates on. Her excitement buzzed through the air, a palpable emotion that gave her the appearance of someone half her age. Feeling it, she slipped off her shoe and wriggled her toes at him, displaying the socks on her feet. "Is that a no?"

"Yep. I like warm feet," she said, lacing up the first skate. Kerry's fingers eased over the laces, remembering the trick to tightening the skates automatically. "It's been a while since I've done this."

"Is this your way of preparing my catching reflexes?" He sat beside her, paying more attention to her than he was lacing his own skates.

"Of course not," Kerry laughed, finishing her second foot and standing. She managed to gain her balance on the thin ridge of the blades. "It was to try to trick you into admitting the last time you've gone skating. I say 'it's been a while' and you say 'probably longer for me' or 'at least you've been skating this decade'."

"It probably hasn't been as long as you think." He stood, taking her hand again. "Are you ready to fall?"

"Who says I'll be the one falling?" she asked, stepping towards the rink. "I took a few years of figure skating when I was a kid. I wasn't that great, but I always figured that someday I'd step on the ice and have absorbed the skill through osmosis. Maybe today's my lucky day."

"Or maybe I'll get to be the hero and catch you before you lose a few teeth."

Kerry paused, one foot hovering over the ice. Both her hands were braced on the side of the rink, but if she had one free she'd cover her mouth and all those straight teeth she went through years of torture and orthodontist bills to obtain. Now it was clear why she didn't skate anymore.

"I didn't mean to strike a nerve on that one," Michel said from behind her, waiting for her to move so he could get on the ice behind her.

"I probably would have thought of it at some point," Kerry said truthfully, though three years had given her more to worry about besides keeping her teeth flawless. She took that final step, skate touching down on the slippery ice and sliding quickly towards the center of the rink. Kerry grabbed hold of the edge of the boards, trying to keep her balance. Somehow she had forgotten that the first step was a doozy. She finally regained her footing, both skates less-than-solidly balanced on the ice, and knuckles turning white from her grip on the side; she loathed to look at Michel, knowing that he'd have that smug, superior smirk on his face, and it would be justified this time.

"I'll show you how it's done." Michel finally stepped on the ice, his entrance less than perfect as his skate reacted much like hers had and he had to wave his arms to regain balance. Kerry began giggling at him until he shot a perplexed look at the ice like it had betrayed him, and then she started full-out laughing. Michel glared at her, his beautiful blue eyes narrowed in warning. Kerry doubled over, guffawing.

"Oh yeah, you showed me," she managed to gasp, wiping tears out of her eyes. "That was priceless. You should have seen your face. You were like—" she meant to mimic him, but instead her eyes got wide in horror as she lost her equilibrium, skates completely flying out from under her. Kerry was silent for a second as she landed on her back, and then cracked up again. As she snickered, Michel skated over to her and glanced down.

"I think someone poured saline on the ice." He offered her a hand, maneuvering her feet off the wet patch as he helped her up.

"I think we're both just hopeless skaters." Kerry wiped her bottom off, glad she was wearing jeans. With other materials, the snow would have already settled into the cloth, but on jeans she was able to brush it off without even a wet spot. She had learned that trick years ago, but Michel hadn't exactly given her a chance to prepare a suitable wardrobe.

"I happen to know that isn't true," Michel told her, adjusting his grip on her wrist so that they were back to holding hands. "I have excellent balance. Normally."

"Of course you do," Kerry agreed, pushing off with one foot so that she was finally gliding along the ice like she was used to. He let her set the pace and she decided on one which was tentative at first, but grew faster until they were passing some of the other couples on the ice. "I should probably warn you, despite your 'superior' balance, that I was pretty good at some of the figure skating tricks, but my instructor finally had to ask mom to stop bringing me because I tripped up my fellow skaters."

"Tripped them up?" he questioned with a half-smile.

"Yeah. My foot would get inside their rhythm and they'd either falter not to hit me, or we'd get tangled and both go down. The instructor said I was probably better suited to hockey." Kerry paused for effect. "In Canada."

Michel snorted. "I'd take that as a compliment rather than an insult. The Canadian Women Hockey team practically dominates the ice."

"I wouldn't have minded hockey," Kerry said reflectively. "But mom said no. She thought it was too dangerous."

"You might not have all your teeth right now."

"There is that," Kerry agreed, spinning around mid-stride so that she was able to face him instead of catching glimpses out of the corner of her eye. She didn't notice that she had used one of his favourite catchphrases. Their fingers were still wound together. He smiled at her, his eyes flicking to an object behind her right shoulder. Kerry automatically moved left, looking behind her to make sure she had cleared the couple coming up beside her.

"Not bad," Michel complimented, tugging her hand gently towards him. Kerry turned back around, meaning to only change directions so she was skating beside him again, but her foot disrupted his rhythm as she had predicted would happen. Michel stopped dead, yanking her forward so she continued the circle rapidly, faltering against his body as she came up against him. Their fingers were still entwined, his arm around her back and hers trapped between their chests.

Kerry laughed breezily, adrenaline running high as she came out of the unexpected spin. Michel stared at her for a moment, causing her to inhale sharply right before he kissed her softly, unlike any of the other times. This kiss was thoughtless, as though he didn't really mean to do it, and it meant much more to her than his deliberate attempts at seduction or charade. It was over almost before it began, and as his mouth hovered over her jaw, she stared beyond his shoulder with unseeing eyes, wondering how her heart would be able to deal with him this time.

"The young girls over there think we're sickeningly cute," Michel said in her ear.

"That's because we are," Kerry proclaimed, leaning against him as she balanced on the picks of her blades. She boldly kissed him on the mouth, and then leaned back. "I bet they just giggled."

"They did." Michel smiled, and this time Kerry wasn't sure if it was for effect or not. "They're complaining about how jealous they are. The one in the pink hat is wishing for a boyfriend like me when she grows up."

"If she plays her cards right," Kerry pointed out, "maybe she'll get you for a night."

Michel scowled at her, yanking their twined hands and pulling her back into a half spin in the opposite direction so she was no longer entangled in his arms.

Kerry squealed, and then laughed again. "In the future!" she exclaimed. As they continued to skate, she snuck a peek at the girls, slightly surprised to find them all the way on the other side of the rink. She knew that Michel usually didn't let on about his superhumanness in front of her, but when he did there was usually a reason behind it. What she couldn't see yet was why. "If you think about it, I was her age less than a decade ago."

"And I bet your parents wouldn't have allowed you out this late on a school night."

"How can you tell?" Kerry asked, flicking a glance at his face.

"Because the night I met you, you were worried about being out that late. Oh, watch out," he warned, tightly taking the corner and pulling her around rapidly.

"Actually," Kerry told him, "my mom used to bring Nelle and I out on school nights, drop us off, and then go for a coffee somewhere. It wasn't an everyday thing, but it happened."

"Oh? What makes you unhappy about that memory? Don't look at me like that. It doesn't take a mind reader to see how your lips turned down while talking about it."

"It used to make Nelle and I feel like adults and we loved it, but she was probably using us as an alibi while she went to meet with her boyfriend."

"The one she ran away with?" he asked perceptively.

"I hope so," Kerry muttered. "Because what she did was unforgiveable, but if I think she might have been unhappy with dad or in love with this other guy, it makes it a little better." She smiled at Michel, but it wasn't as friendly and carefree as her other ones. "You taught me to think like that, though I know you didn't mean to. So I need to hold on to the idea instead of thinking my mom had multiple men she was cheating with." Kerry's fingers tightened around his hand.

"What else?" He asked.

"That was around the time she got pregnant with Ian." Kerry's voice was steady, though tears welled up in her eyes. It wasn't the first time she had thought about it, but it was the first time she had worded her suspicions out loud.

"He'd still be your brother," Michel said gently. "That doesn't change."

"But he wouldn't be dad's." The tip of Kerry's skate got caught in the ice and she stumbled. Michel caught her even before she went down, his reflexes ready.

"Okay," Michel said, "I think it's time we went in."

"I'm sorry," Kerry said, wiping her cheeks. "I didn't mean to unload on you like that. Mom just isn't a safe topic of conversation for me."

"It's my fault. I was curious."

Kerry looked at him with clear eyes, realizing that she had never told him any details about her mother running away with another man. She had never really told him anything. Kerry grinned and shook her head. "You got me on that one."

"You're not always as guarded as you want people to believe. Watch out for the tricky patch," Michel warned, nodding to the section of ice they had both slipped on earlier. Kerry's head was buzzing as she carefully moved onto the rubber padding of the floor surrounding the rink.

She had cursed him for years for being so closed about himself, but hadn't she done the same to him? Every time he had asked her a question, she had deflected it. It was a strange realization to suddenly see herself so clearly. He was supposed to be the secretive one, but – had she ever told him anything about herself? "We're alike, aren't we?"

Michel's expression closed. "No. We aren't," he told her.

She watched him for a second as she took off her skates. His reaction gave her all the answers she needed, even if the words themselves denied it. "You're probably right," she told him. "We're nothing alike." She finished changing back into her shoes, handing the rental skates to the attendant. "Thank you for bringing me here," she said, slipping her arms into her jacket. "It's on my top five list of best date ideas."

"Oh?" He asked, back to being curious. "That's why you asked about the diary?"

"Yeah," she told him as they walked by the teenage girls on their way out. Kerry noticed that he didn't attempt to take her hand again. The magicalness of the fantasy had been broken by reality. The girls still watched them leave, curiosity covering their youthful expressions as one whispered to the other. Kerry hunched her shoulder and vowed she would ask Michel what was said, even though he barely controlled an amused grin. As they walked, her eyes were blind to the decorations.

"Skating is number---?" he trailed off, waiting for her to answer.

"Not one," she told him, pushing open the glass door to the mall on her way out into the cool autumn night.

"What is?"

Kerry turned, walking backwards through the parking lot. She didn't worry about icy patches on the ground as her shoes crunched through the salt covering the dry asphalt. Her footing felt secure and stable for the first time in hours. Slight anger swirled through her veins like a narcotic, making her believe that what she perceived now was the truth. "You'll have to do more digging for that."

"What makes you think I did any digging for this one?" He asked, beeping the car doors open.

"You asked Nathaniel, didn't you?"

Michel laughed softly. "You caught me."

Kerry went to the passenger side, not missing the fact that Michel didn't even attempt to open her door for her. It wasn't surprising, but it also made her miss the 'boyfriend' persona he had adopted. She buckled up, a chill quaking up her spine from the temperature and the unnamed disappointment.

"I'll put the heat on," he offered, though it was obvious he wasn't affected by the cold. The heaters blared to life, but he didn't attempt to drive the car. After a cursory check of the glove compartment and the space beneath the dash, he looked towards her intently, elbows braced on the steering wheel and fingers steepled in an old pose he never seemed to keep for long. "I have a favour to ask of you, and I know you won't like it."

Kerry sighed, resting her head on the leather headrest behind her as heat poured through the vents in front of her. She turned to look at him, her eyes suddenly tired. "What is it?"

"The boss thinks I'm going too easy on you. He thinks at this rate, I'll get the information we need by Christmas, and that isn't soon enough. We need to present a more unified picture, so I can tell him that you'll probably tell me anything in a matter of days."

"I see," Kerry said slowly. "I don't think I can do what you want."

"I haven't even asked yet."

"You don't need to. You're asking me to have sex with you because that's what you do, and it seems strange that you haven't yet."

"No!" he exclaimed, jerking his elbow in surprise and beeping the horn. "God, Kerry, what do you take me for?" He turned to look at her, his wide and sincere.

"Don't give me that innocent look," she said with narrowed eyes. "And don't tell me you didn't consider it. Creating a bond like that would solve all your problems for the next few days."

"It would," he affirmed with a hint of a smile, "but there's a way it can be done that will take a little more effort, but less emotional attachment."

"You don't need emotional attachment," she reminded him.

"On your part."

"Ok," she said with a sigh, sitting straight in the seat so her head was facing the windshield. She didn't really want to see him at the moment. "What is it?"

"You have to publically announce you love me."

Kerry started chuckling, shaking her head as most the laughter snorted derisively through her nose. "I wish you were joking, or that I could at least think you were joking for a minute."

"I'm not."

"I know. It makes sense. By publically do you mean inside Club Vampyr?"

"In front of my boss," he affirmed. "Tonight."

"I'll have to change into something more suitable," she said with a sigh as he started the car engine. "I hate that place."

"I know. I wanted you to do something you actually wanted to before I dragged you back there."

It almost surprised her that skating was a considerate gesture after all. "Thank you. That was thoughtful of you. Of course, if something bad happens again tonight, I'll always associate it with skating."

"Nothing good ever happens with me," he reminded her, "but I don't think you look at me and remember bad things."

She didn't tell him that when she looked at him, she was happy, especially since he was right and she should be seeing kidnappings and death. Just like she didn't mention that skating would now forever be linked with one of the only times they ever had fun together. Instead, she teased him. "You're too good looking. It's difficult to get past that."

"It's my curse."

"So what is it that you want me to do?"

Michel shifted into seriousness. "We'll be dancing. He'll be paying attention to us because that's what he does. I can almost guarantee we'll be the most interesting thing in the room."

"How will I know him?"

"Good question," he nodded. "I'll give you a signal. You have to pretend you don't notice him, or at least don't care that he's there. When you tell me you – what you have to say – you'll have to yell it in my ear like a human would to another human."

"That's why you told me what the girls were saying," Kerry clued in. "You wanted me to see for myself how far the distance can be between a vampire and the sound. I knew there had to be a reason."

"In the club the distance will be a lot closer than those girls were to us since there is so much other noise, but that was a good indication of how far we can be away from him, yes."

Kerry yawned, smothering it with her hand. "Ok. So what about my heart rate when I lie about loving you? Won't he be able to tell?"

"That," Michel said succinctly, "is why we're going dancing. I'm hoping that your elevated heart rate will combat any obvious discrepancies, and even if there are signs that he'll just take them as the nerves of a young girl."

Kerry yawned again, this time not bothering to politely hide it.

"Have you been sleeping?"

"Not really," she said. "Not since that night you saved me."

"I'll try to have you home early," he promised.

Kerry looked at the time on the dashboard, noticing that it was almost ten. "I think we have different definitions of the word."

"Come on," he teased, "you're a college student. You're supposed to have late nights and later mornings."

"Not if you have early morning classes."

Michel smiled, pulling the car into the garage beneath her building. "You're a bore."

"I'm glad you think so," Kerry retorted, somewhat coldly. "I'd hate to be exciting to a vampire."

"Maybe the vampires enjoy the boring type, since they so rarely come out at night."

"There are predators out at night," Kerry pointed out, slipping out the front door of the SUV.

"There are predators during the day too," he responded affably. "You just don't notice them because humans have adapted to feel safe when the sun's out."

"That's because the things that go bump in the night actually are bumping in the night. In your case figuratively as well as literally."

"Ha ha." He allowed her to enter the elevator before him. Kerry wondered at his selective chivalry. On the ground floor, two girls stumbled into the elevator reeking of alcohol. At a little after ten on a Tuesday, Kerry was less than impressed. They, however, seemed to be thinking the opposite about Michel and smiled at him. He raised one of his pronounced dark eyebrows and smirked back. They were tittering as Kerry squeezed around them to exit the elevator on her floor.

"A curse," he reminded her with a widening smile as she turned away from him and headed down the hall.

"A curse to some is considered a blessing to others," she reminded him, slipping her key into the lock.

"Profound." He stopped cold, grabbing her arm sharply and yanking her away from the door, bodily inserting himself between her and the doorway. He turned his head to the side, listening for a moment. "It's Tim and his spawn," Michel explained, opening the door and stepping in first. Kerry was still reeling from his quick reaction. If it had been anyone else in her apartment, he might have just saved her life at the possible risk of his own. Of course, her cynical side wondered if he had known who was in her apartment the entire time, and was playing another game.

"Michael," Tim exclaimed with audible relief. "We were hoping you'd be back sooner rather than later."

Nathaniel glowered.

"I tried reaching you on your cell."

"It's off," Michel explained tersely. "I told you I wasn't to be disturbed."

"We had to move Nelle out for her own safety."

Michel's face went blank, dropping his emotional masks for a moment. "To where?"

"Only Amelia knows."

Michel nodded. "Good. Leave it like that. She's probably the only one who can keep it a secret." Michel moved into the living room, sitting in the middle of her couch. Kerry hesitated for a moment, feeling like a foreigner in her own home, only moving towards him when Michel held his hand out, palm up, for her to take. She sat beside him, surprised at the unified front they seemed to present. "Tell me what happened," Michel demanded as Tim turned one of the wooden dining room chairs around to face the couch. It reminded Kerry of Michel's office set up, where he was in the comfortable seat reigning over those less comfortable.

Tim gave a meaningful look at the two humans in the room, not speaking.

"I don't know what information you want your son to know," Michel responded, "but in this matter there are no secrets between Kerry and I."

Kerry's eyebrows flew up, and she almost started to laugh at what was surely a joke, except Michel gave her hand a warning squeeze. She swallowed the laugh, but couldn't get rid of the notion that he had to be joking.

"I'd rather the kids didn't hear it."

"Then send Nathan out of the room, but Kerry stays."

The two vampires had a clash of wills which was very shortly won by Michel. Once again, Kerry wondered exactly how old Michel was.

"Fine. When Nelle woke up a few hours ago, she wasn't alone in her room. He was in there for fifteen minutes with her before Amelia noticed something was wrong and went to check. By the time they found Nelle, she was alone and sobbing incoherently."

Kerry exchanged a horrified look with Nathaniel.

Michel's jaw tensed. "Did she say anything?"

"She said that he was always watching, always there."

"And?"

"And he promised the game would end soon. He had already selected his prize and that's what I think upset her most."

Michel's fingers dug into the back of her hand with foreknowledge. "Who?"

"Kerry."

©RelenaFanel.Jan11.2008


	21. Chapter 21

**Club Vampyr**

**Chapter 21**

* * *

_Previously: Kerry and Michel have a decent date, punctuated by some witty banter debating of which of them would 'fall' first, some deep and slightly uncomfortable conversations, more banter, a plan on how to deal with the position Kerry's in, and finally Tim's naysayer news that Kerry is the boss's newest target in his devious game of cat-n-mouse (darn you, Tim)._

* * *

Michel and Tim continued discussing matters, but Kerry didn't really hear them over the roar of fear in her ears. Their conversation had become incredibly coded, and even though she was apparently in Michel's confidence, there were things he still didn't want her to know. What a surprise. She kept her hand tightly grasped around Michel's, and despite the angry red marks her fingernails were creating, he didn't say anything, and more importantly, he didn't pull away.

"Kerry?" Michel asked, lightly shaking her hand to get her attention. She came back into the present to find all three of them staring at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry," she blinked. "I wasn't paying attention."

"That's fine," he told her kindly. "I asked you if you wanted to go into hiding. I might be able to protect you."

"With Nelle?" she asked, pulling her jacket tighter around her body with her one free hand. She was suddenly freezing.

"No, not with Nelle. Nelle has just gone on a short trip. I'm not sure you'll ever be coming back."

"I don't understand," Kerry said, speaking the words though her mind could rationally see what he was saying. She didn't want to understand. "Are you talking about changing my identity and sending me to live somewhere?"

"Vampires can be very patient," Michel explained. "He has years to bide his time and the longer we keep you away from him, the more chance he'll forget."

"What if he doesn't forget? He'll have years to find me. Years where I'm on the run, looking over my shoulder. I don't understand."

"You seem to—" Tim started to say, only to be gestured into silence by Michel.

"What don't you understand?"

"Why are both of you so worried? What will he do? What kind of game are you talking about?"

"Kerry," Michel said gently. "I think you should consider my offer. I can get you out of the country within hours."

"What about my family?"

"Look," Tim spoke up, "Michael doesn't want to alarm you, but I think you need the blunt truth before you can make an informed decision. First, he'll follow you. You'll see him every day for months until you're terrified of stepping outside, and then suddenly he'll stop for long enough that you begin to regain your confidence. He might do this several times or only once, depending on how much he likes you. Then one day you'll simply disappear off the face of the earth."

"He'll kill me?" She asked, voice sharp.

"No. But you'll wish he had. He'll keep you for a while, and then he'll turn you. He'll keep you for even longer after that, and he'll enjoy breaking your body and then allowing you to heal. Ask Mike if you don't believe me."

Kerry started to shake with nerves. She didn't dare look at Michel, keeping her face as devoid of emotions as she could get it.

"Can I speak to you," Michel said to Tim, rising abruptly. Kerry's hand fell limp as he let go of her. "Ker, Nathaniel's staying here with you."

Kerry watched him as they moved out of earshot, her eyes attracted to the movement. Nathaniel sat next to her awkwardly, patting her shoulder in what was supposed to be comfort. She bent her head over her lap, a few overwhelmed tears dripping from her cheeks. "Do you think I should go?" she sniffed quietly.

"I think it's probably bad when it worries the vampires."

"Yeah."

"There's one thing I don't understand," Nathaniel told her.

"Only one?"

"Of course not," Nathaniel said with a half-smile. "I just don't get why his first solution was to get you away from here. It would be easier for him to let it play out, even if you did die. It would be of little consequence to a man like him."

"You think the worst of him," Kerry said with a shrug, not mentioning that Michel did have a stake in keeping her alive. She just wasn't sure about anything anymore. The picture was starting to come together in her mind, but it was still blurry and pixilated, and she still didn't know where some pieces went. What she did know was that there was still a level in Michel's mind labeled top-secret, and whenever he seemed to be honest with her, he was still editing out anything across that line. This newest piece of information seemed like all the rest, and Kerry realized what it was that was missing – his motives. Michel was a very purpose-minded, and he lived his life based on reasons. Why, then, was he still working under this boss? Why store his power and make himself appear weaker? Why try to use her in his plan, only to turn around and offer to send her away?

Why? She had a feeling that he had one underlying motivation for almost everything.

"Come on Nate, we're going," Tim called from the hallway, moving towards the front door with haste, a furious glower on his face as he looked towards her. It was a good gauge of her mood that she wasn't even tempted to give him a small finger-wave.

Michel came back into the living room once they were gone, sitting in the wooden chair across from her. He leaned his elbows across his knees, hanging his head as he stared at his feet. His dark hair covered his eyes, and he raised one arm to pinch the bridge of his nose like someone who had a headache coming on.

"Do I have any other options?" she asked, watching him. He looked like a man defeated, and it interested her to see him this way. "If there's nothing besides staying here and dying a long and painful death, and spending the rest of my life in hiding and looking over my shoulder, then I'll go."

"You'll go?" Michel asked, raising his head so quickly it looked like he gave himself whiplash. "I never expected you to agree," he mused, pulling out his cell phone from the pocket of his black leather jacket. "I thought you'd be foolish and insist on staying. If I can make arrangements for tomorrow morning, you'll go?"

"Wait," Kerry said, wrinkling her nose as she tried to stop crying. "By tomorrow? I don't think I've had time to really think about it yet. I just don't want to die." She paused, sniffing as she watched him observing her. "You're right," she said finally, "I'm being weak and selfish by agreeing to leave."

"The world is full of people who would classify that as smart," Michel criticized, but closed his phone.

Kerry made a face at the implied insult, wiping tears from her eyes. "But I'm not one of them, and you know it. I can't just leave. What about my brother? My father? What about my life? You frightened me into thinking hiding was my best chance, but it can't be the only option."

"Kerry," he said seriously, "it is your best chance."

"I can't leave."

"You can," he insisted.

Kerry crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not."

"You're sure?"

Kerry faltered. "No."

"I'm making the arrangements anyway," he told her, reopening his phone. "Go get dressed for the club. We're not going to deviate from the plan, and he'll assume we don't know about Nelle yet."

"I've made up my mind," Kerry said obstinately. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Right now you're going to Club Vampyr with me. As for the rest, we'll see. Wear a dress." Michel paused, waiting for her to comply before adding, "that little white thing, preferably."

Kerry stomped into her bedroom, wondering why the man was so infuriating even when he was trying to be helpful. She removed the outfit she had put so much consideration into earlier, able to hear tones of Michel speaking on the phone through the wall from where she stood. Kerry knew that whatever it was he was planning probably took a lot of preparation and attention to detail. She didn't think he could pull it off in just a few hours. Not even Michel was that good.

Obstinately, Kerry grabbed the requisite little black dress from her closet and wriggled into it with little thought of how it reflect upon the vampire theme. She thickly lined her eyes with stark black powdered liner, and figured that the look would have to be dramatic enough, though it had taken her about five minutes to complete. It surprised her to find that she was a little tempered by the fact that Michel hadn't complimented her on her efforts to look nice on their date, so now that their next outing was for ulterior motives she just didn't have the spirit to make herself fabulous. Especially if he wouldn't notice anyway. She grabbed her strappy black sandals – another necessity for every female over the age of fifteen – and headed back into the living room.

"I don't care if you have other things on your plate right now," Michel was saying into the phone. "I'm cashing in a favour, and offering you time and a half for the rush job. Yes. She has a valid driver's license from the state of New York." Michel paused, turning around quickly as he noticed her standing in the doorway to her bedroom, shoes dangling from her fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her and then turned his head away with a frown and spoke back into the phone. "No, tomorrow night is not acceptable. I want the package hand delivered by five at the specified address. Yes. That five, and I don't give a shit if it's less than six hours away." Michel hung up with a frustrated snap.

"Why do I get the feeling you aren't ordering a pizza," Kerry asked dryly as she fiddled with the strap of her sandal. It was always difficult to latch the heels on without moving her leg in complex ways and flashing more thigh than she already was. She managed to cross her legs and fasten the buckle, watching to see if he looked at her legs from the periphery of her vision. He didn't.

"I have someone I know working at getting you new identification. He does excellent work. It's an art these days to match the hidden security measures in the laminates. I wouldn't trust anyone else."

"It sounds expensive," Kerry pointed out suspiciously.

Michel shrugged. "About twenty in all."

"Twenty thousand?" Kerry exclaimed as she tottered to her feet. "Are you crazy? I'm not even leaving!"

"Then you'll have an excellent set of forged ID."

Kerry shook her head, moving past him towards the front door. "I'm not worth that amount of money."

"That's interesting," Michel mused. "I thought you were one of those liberal people who think every life is priceless. Wear a jacket," he told her, switching gears as she reached for her apartment door, her hair tumbling down her bare back so she could feel the strands as she turned her head to look at him.

Kerry glowered at him.

"It's cold out," he said, trailing his hand over her the exposed skin of her shoulder. "And you're dressed for heat, not below freezing temperatures."

She shivered as his hand trailed over her neck, dipping into the hollow of her collarbone. A part of her screamed 'yes' for getting him to notice her through her clothing, but a second, more rational part of her brain knew he was trying to deflect her. She leaned towards him anyway, drawn by the touch.

"Close your eyes," he told her, and she complied without question. Gently, he rubbed his thumbs over her eyelids, smearing her quick eyelining job. "There. Very nice."

Kerry opened her eyes, slightly confused that he hadn't kissed her like she had expected. She opened the door to her coat closet, glancing at her reflection in the mirror. "It is nice," she told him. It was sexy, she thought, like bedroom eyes. She just didn't know if she wanted to think about him controlling her makeup as well as ordering her to wear a dress.

Michel watched her through the mirror, brushing her hair away from her face and gently kissing her shoulder. The long gold-chain earrings she had thrown on swayed, brushing against her neck and his cheek as he moved his mouth closer, hovering above the skin as he turned his eyes upwards to meet her gaze in their reflection.

"Do you see that," he asked, hand slowly caressing down her arm.

"What?" Kerry whispered, and in the mirror her lips pouted around the word like a returned kiss.

"The way you look at me."

Kerry blinked, turning her eyes away from the mirror and clearing her throat. She shrugged him off, grabbing a long black coat from the closet. It was Nelle's and she couldn't button it up, but it was the only jacket in the apartment which would suit her nice dress.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you," Michel said, opening the door for her as she flipped her hair out of the collar.

"Yes you did," Kerry retorted, brushing past him. This time, she was the one leading the way down the hallway. She was unaware that he watched the line of her back, and the angry swish of her jacket against her legs, but she was aware that when he looked at her, there was a slight pinching at the corner of his mouth that spoke of disapproval of some kind. It only served to make her more upset.

Half an hour later, they were back at Club Vampyr and Kerry was frowning so hard wrinkles were showing between her eyebrows.

"You're going to have to act better than that," Michel said in her ear, taking her in through the back door of the club. She glowered at him, using it as an outlet for her nerves. She had left her jacket in his car, and though the garage was underground, she was still chilled enough to set a quick pace despite her heels. "I don't know what you're so angry about, but you're going to have to cut _it out,"_ he hissed, emphasizing the last words.

Kerry pulled away from him sharply as he tried to grab her arm, and she tottered backwards dangerously for a moment. He watched her regain her balance, not moving forward to help. She paused, watching the way his eyes observed her in a detached way. "I'm sorry," she said shortly. "I'm having trouble dealing with everything and I'm taking it out on you."

"Do you need a moment?"

"No, I'm fine," Kerry said, giving him a dazzling smile as she looped her arm through his and leaned towards him slightly. You're not fine, her mind screamed at her. She was feeling trapped and claustrophobic, but she wasn't sure why. She thought it might be her life. "You know I just sometimes get lightheaded around you, baby," she said sweetly.

Michel gave her his trademark good-natured look. "Maybe I should check your blood pressure."

It took Kerry a moment longer than it should have to get the joke. "Later," she promised silkily. Michel escorted her into the network of hallways behind the club. She had been there so often in the last few days, that she recognized some of the faces they passed. "I love this place," she lied, hoping he noticed the contradiction from the last time they were there.

"I know how you feel about it," Michel responded, not disappointing.

"Hold on," Kerry requested, drawing to a halt in front of the thick metal doors leading into the back corridor of Club Vamp. The heavy tempo of the music pounded through the floors, giving her a surreal feeling of lassitude as she discovered that her heartrate fell far below the beat of sound. She fluffed her hair and dress, adjusting the covering over her chest, and then looked at Michel, waiting for him to mock her. She was slightly surprised to find her heart rate picking up to the bass line. "I'm ready," she told him finally, far from it.

"If anything happens I have Tim in a security office just through that door," he told her, nodding towards one of the unassuming wooden doors lining the hallway. There was no sign saying 'security' on it to set it apart from all the rest.

"Comforting," Kerry said, looking at the door with a sense of irony. "That really helped Nelle."

Michel took her arm, sensing that she was considering flight, and drew her through the doors and into the back corridor of Club Vamp. Kerry looked at the familiar surroundings, and she could see how the vampires responded so quickly the night Nelle died. What she couldn't see was how the excellent security had allowed for the situation to begin in the first place. "He will make sure you cannot leave with anyone other than me."

Kerry looked at him in horror, never considering a situation where she became separated from Michel. She thought it more likely Michel was referring to kidnapping than worry that she would pick up some other vampire, but if anyone was listening in they would likely take it as the latter. She wasn't sure if she liked what that implied. "I wouldn't want to," she said simply, unable to leave it.

Michel pulled her out onto the dance floor, and she went reluctantly at first, allowing him to skillfully navigate her into position with ease. Kerry moved against him, reveling in their proximity as she felt the lithe muscles beneath his clothes warm up from her body heat. He leaned in, lips brushing against her pulse as it rushed to greet him. He breathed against the slightly damp mark, and goosebumps erupted along the back of her neck.

It took Kerry a moment to realize that he was giving her the arranged signal, gesturing to a man sitting at the bar. Kerry glanced over, her heart thudding audibly in her ears, keeping tempo with the music. At first, she didn't recognize him, his features the type which blended easily into crowds and into memory, but then he leaned towards the girl he was speaking to and recognition flared. Kerry plastered herself up against Michel, unable to miss the way he jolted against her. "Do you think three nights is too soon to fall in love?" she asked, making sure her voice was loud enough that he would be able to hear it in the club if he was human. She felt almost foolish screaming in his ear, when she knew he could hear a whisper. Kerry adlibbed the conversation they rehearsed, needing to get him out of here so they could talk.

Michel's hands rose up her waist, holding her in place. His long fingers brushed against the bare skin of her back, gently squeezing as he twirled them around so she was no longer facing the bar.

Kerry's heart rate grew quicker than the music, and she gritted her teeth against the amount of nerves this was going to take. "Let's go back to your place. I think we should _talk_." She said the word talk as though she meant something else, and Michel stopped pretending to dance against her. He moved away, grabbing her arm as he walked towards the back corridor. Kerry stumbled after him, not even aware that the last time she had gone through these doors in this direction she had been trying to save Nelle.

He kept moving through the metal doors leading into the vampire headquarters. Her heels were muted against the carpet, but she was relieved he recognized the importance of the situation.

They waited in front of the elevator in silence, shuffling in with the same level of sound.

Once they were in, he pushed the emergency stop button. Kerry was just opening her mouth to remind him that there was a camera and it wasn't really safe to talk when he moved towards her so quickly she couldn't follow the movement and kissed her, forcing her back against the wall of the elevator so hard it shook. Kerry gasped, and Michel pushed his tongue into her mouth, running it along her incisors.

Kerry moaned against his lips as he kissed her, his mouth demanding and forceful against hers. Boldly, she nipped at his tongue with her teeth, and he pressed against her sharply, his hand sliding up her thigh. Leisurely, he moved his mouth away from the kiss, skimming it down her jaw and to the sweet spot on her neck that he enjoyed taunting her with. His teeth pressed dangerously against skin as his hand moved under her skirt, dragging his fingers up to cup her hip.

"Michel," she breathed. "Wait. I really meant it about talking." He paid no attention to her, and the part of Kerry that was seriously enjoying his attentions told her to let it go. The frightened part of her that wanted to live, unfortunately, urged her onward. "Stop," she requested, managing to get some command in her tone of voice.

Michel pulled away slightly, blinking at her unfocused. She wanted to kiss him again, he looked so confused. "You want me to stop?"

"Yes." No.

He laughed sharply, pulling away completely with a quick run of his fingers through his longish hair. "I can't believe I've let you do this a second time. You're a tease."

"You told me to make it believable!" Kerry shot him a horrified look.

"So I did," Michel said with a smile and a shake of his head. "What is it you want to talk about?"

"Isn't there a camera in here?" Kerry questioned, shooting a suspicious glance towards the ceiling where she guestimated the video from the night before had come from.

"Shit," Michel cursed, and Kerry knew the situation wasn't too bad since he had used an English word. She giggled behind her hand as he glared up at the camera.

"It's no big deal," Kerry reminded him. "Tim caught the live show the other night."

Michel turned his unamused face at her. "If it had gone any further, Tim would have seen a lot more than my tongue down your throat." He pressed the button to restart the elevator. It lurched into motion as Kerry gave him a cheeky grin.

"Maybe we could have gotten a video."

He chuckled, leading her out of the elevator with a hand on the small of her back. This time, Kerry was able to find her way to his office with little guidance, only turning the wrong way once. Without him there to correct her, she would have gotten hopelessly lost, but she made a mental note about the direction and promised herself it wouldn't happen again. Focusing on something else helped calm the hum of her pulse berating and reminding her of her foolishness. He opened the door for her, allowing her to enter before he did. Kerry arranged herself on a couch, looking at him expectantly as he followed her, waiting for him to sit.

"I recognize your boss," she told him immediately, no small-talk this time. They both had had enough foreplay for the time being. "I've seen him before."

"I'm not surprised," Michel told her, sitting on the opposite side of the couch and draping his arm along the back. "You are his target."

"I am," she told him. "I had assumed that I was in this because of you and Nelle, but the first time I talked to him was in Club Vamp on opening night, before Nelle got separated from us."

Michel nodded once. "You spoke to him?"

"Yeah," Kerry said with a derisive laugh. "He butted into a conversation between Nelle and me, and I told him that I knew he was human but that he pretended better than most."

"I see," Michel said slowly. "It's unexpected, but it's possible you brought his attention on yourself."

Kerry hummed her agreement.

"And?" Michel asked. "You said the first time, so I'm assuming there's a second."

Kerry shook her head. "It's stupid," she told him, "but I swear he looks exactly like that guy who pulled me out of traffic today."

Michel sat up quickly, his arm slipping off the back of the couch and landing on her shoulder. He meant it to be a supportive gesture, but it was too rapid for Kerry to comprehend what he was doing and she jumped with a gasp. Michel snatched his hand back, and then frowned, slowly putting it back on her shoulder as he realized he had merely startled her. "I forget sometimes," he muttered by way of apology. "You'll have to tell me exactly what happened."

"I wasn't paying attention and walked on a don't-cross sign, and this guy pulled me back to the curb. He made some joke and told me I looked familiar."

"It's probably not the same person," Michel said slowly, as though reluctant to dismiss her suspicions.

"Oh! And he said his name was Andrew something. Hilton? Howard? Does that mean anything to you?"

Michel's face went wonderfully blank in that look that told her nothing, but said everything, and Kerry knew that it was the same man without him having to say a word.

"But how was he out during the day?" she asked.

Michel slowly smiled. "Slipping up and proving that the stories were true. He does have the Surya talisman."

"So this is a good thing?"

"A very good thing," Michel affirmed, moving closer and grabbing both her hands. His obvious excitement was contagious and she found herself grinning at him. "I've been trying to validate the rumour for a while."

"Then I don't understand why he showed himself to me, then."

"Because cherie," he said with charm, kissing her hand. "Unlike me, he seriously underestimated your observational skills."

Kerry's heart fluttered, and she observed him with a smile in her eyes. "And you've been trying to find this talisman for a while?" she asked. "Is that the reason behind everything?"

"The reason?" he asked, tracing the bluish veins of blood in her wrist with a gentle touch of his finger tips.

"Yes," she breathed. "I know there's something you aren't telling me, some motive beneath everything."

"Ah. There's being observant, and then there's being paranoid." He smiled to soften the words. "There's something I have to do. I'll get Tim in here to babysit you. You really helped me out today, honestly."

Kerry frowned, thrown by his use of the term 'honestly' and what she perceived to be truth in his words. She also wasn't pleased with the idea of being 'babysat', but she also would rather not be alone these days – ever. What really made her upset, though, was the fact he was brushing her off again. "Fine," she told him shortly, going cold.

He gave her a look that told her he knew exactly why her tone had changed. He raised her wrist to his mouth and bit gently, teasing her with his blunt front teeth. "Don't become that girl," he warned characteristically cryptic.

"What girl?" she took the bait and asked, jerking her arm back towards her body.

"The kind that seems great but later becomes possessive and critical." Michel looked towards the door. "There's Tim," he told her, standing and moving away from her. Kerry didn't even pause to wonder what kind of signal he was sending Tim to get him to come substitute him in the babysitting endeavor. Michel thought she was great, she thought goofily. Michel was talking about 'later's. Michel was implying a relationship.

"Hey kiddo," Tim said unenthusiastically. Kerry was surprised to find that Michel had left.

"Hey," she breathed with a foolish grin.

"Oh oh," Tim took a seat. "I know that look. That's the 'I'm so totally in love with Michael' look."

Kerry shot him a sharp look. "I'm not in love with him."

"No?" Tim asked ironically.

"I just don't hate him. Like Nathaniel. Nathaniel hates him. Who knows why," she rambled.

"Yeah, I know," Tim agreed, jumping on a normal and less embarrassing topic of conversation. "What Nathaniel doesn't seem to get is that Michael isn't that bad of a guy. I'm kind of surprised that you haven't let my son influence your opinion. He can be surprisingly persistent in swaying other people to see his views."

"Michael hasn't given me any reason to hate him," she said honestly. Though, if she really thought about it he had – multiple times. "And you don't seem to dislike him either."

"Like I told Nathaniel, Mike can be a real bastard sometimes, usually for a good reason, but sometimes he's really human. Like when he saved your friend. I was in the security room with him while it was happening. I didn't recognize Nelle, but as soon as Nate entered the room Michael recognized him. You should have seen him jump into action. There aren't many of us who would break cover like that to help out a guy's son."

"Cover?" Kerry asked suspiciously.

"What?" Tim questioned, his head jerking rapidly towards her. "Oh! I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

"I will," Kerry mused as Michel reentered the room, his face turning blank as he saw the openly speculating frown on hers.

"What have you been telling her?" Michel demanded from Tim.

"Nothing! Just what a great guy you are."

This time, Michel was the one who looked suspicious.

"It's true," Kerry affirmed. "He was telling me how you jumped to Nelle's rescue once you saw she was Nathaniel's girlfriend." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking decidedly unhappy.

"Tim," Michel said with a harsh gesture of his head. "Out. This is the exact reason I warned you not to talk to her."

"What does that mean?" Kerry exclaimed.

"It means you'll translate everything he tells you so that it fits your version of the truth."

Tim looked between the two of them, and fled.

"I do not!" Kerry said hotly.

"Really? So what do you think really happened?"

Kerry swallowed, promising herself she would not get emotional. "I think you killed my best friend."

©RelenaFanel.Mar8.2008


	22. Chapter 22

**Club Vampyr**

**Chapter 22**

* * *

_Previously on Club Vamp: Michel makes arrangements to get Kerry out of the country, but instead of rushing her directly to the airport, he instead decides they should follow through with the original plan to go to ClubVamp and get the boss's attention. Kerry freaks out, realizing that the boss is really the guy who had pulled her out of traffic the day before. Emphasis on day. When Michel hears this, he becomes really animated and leaves her with Tim for a moment. Kerry finds out that Michel was watching as the vampire killed her friend, only stepping in to stop it once she and Nathaniel entered the room:_

_"I think you killed my best friend."_

* * *

"Tell me I'm wrong," Kerry asked, her voice as neutral as she could make it. She didn't want him to know how betrayed she felt, but more importantly she didn't want him to hear the pleading tone that was surely in her voice. She wouldn't beg, she decided, especially since she was sure she was right.

"I can't," Michel explained, sitting down with his fingers steepled in front of him. His middle fingers pressed against his chin as he observed her carefully. "I killed Nelle."

He said the words as though it were a simple action, with no consequences to anyone, just like he would say 'the moon's bright tonight' or 'I can see well in the dark'. Kerry stared at him, furious breath coming quickly and her eyes widening in betrayal and grief. "I hate you," she murmured quietly, tears streaming from her eyes.

Michel blinked at her, his eyes becoming dull. The transition was so quick, it looked like a flinch. "Sit down," he commanded harshly as she moved to leave. "I'd willingly leave it at that, but you've forced my hand."

"Oh geez, really?" she said sarcastically, not bothering to wonder what she had done to make him tell her anything. "It's a shocker that little ol' me could force the hand of a cold blooded killer."

"If I'm a cold blooded killer," Michel responded coldly, "you're a nosy, spoiled child." He paused for a second, anger creeping into his classic features. Finally he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "How'd we get into a name calling match?"

Kerry regarded him, venom still in her eyes. She didn't notice that he had inadvertently used the word 'we'. There were a lot of things she wasn't noticing, but would later keep her awake for hours contemplating and reliving. "You killed my best friend!" she accused again, slightly hysterical. Kerry leapt from her seat, her hand connecting sharply with his cheek. She observed him, heaving heavily through her nose, and made a fist with the same hand, wondering if it would do more damage if she tried it again.

"Don't think about it," Michel warned, standing up so that her chest was inches from his. He looked down at her dispassionately. "I allowed it once, since what you said is true, but you at least have to give me the courtesy of explaining before I give you the chance to hit me again."

"So you can just lie to me?" She asked, backing off.

"Lying to you is an exercise in futility." He sat back down, leaving her hovering uncomfortably above him. For a few awkward moments she remained standing before backing into her seat. "The best way to explain this is to point out what you already know. You know that I was watching as Nelle died; you know I changed her. You know that I'm third in command under Andrew, but that I'm hiding a great deal of power from him. He showed you that he has the Hand of Surya, and that he is unstable. What you don't know yet are my reasons, and you were right for guessing that there was one underlying factor beneath everything."

Kerry crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him so he wouldn't forget she was furious, but now her sense of curiosity was keeping her rooted to the chair, and hanging on to his every word. If this was honesty from Michel, then hell was really flying and pigs were freezing over. "What is it?" she finally asked, trying not to seem overly eager.

"I'm here to kill him," he said simply.

Somehow, Kerry wasn't surprised.

"But first, I have to discredit him. He has this idea that vampires and humans can coexist, and that we won't all become addicted to the large amount of blood suddenly available, and that you won't do everything possible to obtain our powers. Or worse, see us as a threat and eliminate us one by one as human nature predicts. Somehow, he's gotten quite a following."

Kerry thought about that, not noticing as he observed the thoughts flickering across her face. A few minutes later, she finally spoke up. "So to discredit him you set up a murder on opening night at his new club? You were watching through the security cameras to make sure that everything went according to plan."

"Yes. A body was the best way to ruin the club."

"But there was no scandal," she mused, her brow drawn together in thought. "Because you saved the victim?"

"I didn't save her. She's still dead."

Kerry didn't notice she was no longer angry; what Michel was telling her was so much more interesting and thought provoking than the fact Nelle had almost died. It was like now that he was telling the truth, the fact he was in the wrong was almost secondary. Kerry had always been more interested in the whys of a situation than the ultimate outcome anyway. "So what now?"

"Now, it's a bit tricky," Michel told her, finally easing into a relaxed position. "Now I don't just have myself to protect."

"You involved me long before I was ever involved, if that makes sense. I've been a part of this since the first time we met. At least now I'll know what hit me if it gets me killed."

Michel nodded once, agreeing with her assessment. "You asked me earlier whether there were any other options besides running away, and I didn't respond."

"Deliberately."

"Yes. There is one other option. We have to take him out before he gets to you."

Kerry stared at him silently. She was already starting to forgive him for Nelle, and she didn't know why. It might be his sense of rationality, or it could go back to the fact she always expected the worst from him and he constantly validated her suspicions. She looked at his blue eyes, trying to be so sincere on his handsome face, and really did hate him a little. "You want me to do it, don't you?" she asked with a sense of the inevitable.

"You've killed before," he said simply.

"It was self defense!"

"So is this."

"No," Kerry pointed out. "This would be premeditated. It would be murder."

"No one would ever know," he promised. "You'd just have to intentionally let him get close to you—"

"No!" Kerry exclaimed. "I will not just kill someone in cold blood. I'm not like that."

"Like me, you mean?"

"Sure, or anyone else who would take a life. The jails are full of people like that. If you knew the real me at all, you'd know I'm not one of those people.

"You'd be surprised what I know about you," Michel said, rising to his feet and slipping his gun out of the back holster and placing it on the table between them. "You'd be surprised what even the most altruistic person would do under the right circumstances. If pushed, anyone can take a life. It's human nature." Michel observed her face. "Or maybe you wouldn't be surprised at all."

"Mich—"

"Take the gun," he urged. "You won't have to pull the trigger. Just lure _Andrew_ into a trap, and I'll take care of the rest."

Kerry stared at the weapon in his offered hand, her memory being dragged back to that night four years ago when Marsala had promised her the exact same thing. It had been the worst mistake of her life. She shook her head desperately. "Don't put me in that position again."

"Kerry," Michel said, his voice grave. "This is me. I'm not Marsala and Andrew is not in the same situation I was. You're not betraying anyone."

"What about myself," she said softly. "I'm betraying myself."

Michel grabbed her arm, holding her wrist steady as he slapped the gun into her hand. "I don't need you with me on this," he said harshly, and then changed his tone to something gentler, "but I'd like you to be."

"Then why give me the gun?" she asked, placing it gingerly on her lap.

Michel shrugged. "Protection. I can tell you aren't carrying the one I gave you earlier."

"At this rate I'll go through your entire armory," Kerry joked, looking down at the weapon she wouldn't shoot. She wondered if he was trying to set up an opportunity for her to kill his boss – even though she had been clear that she wouldn't – or if he really wanted her to be able to protect herself. Vampires were quick, after all, but they weren't superman, and they couldn't outrun a speeding bullet. "Ok," she said finally, "I trust you."

Michel's eyebrows shot up, and he stared at her as if she had just said something incredibly interesting. "You trust me? I was the one who ordered the death of your best friend. I'm a cold blooded killer who is trying to get you to do my dirty work. How can you trust me?" he questioned, self-disgust evident in his tone. One again, he was pushing her away.

Kerry sighed, standing so that they were back to being inches apart. "Of course I'm having trouble with that, but I also can't help but remember that you changed her. You didn't have any ulterior motives besides helping out Tim." Kerry paused, putting her hand boldly on his chest. "But I wonder, was that the real reason?"

"I did change Nelle out of guilt and a sense of obligation," he promised. "But it wasn't because I set up her death. I feel no remorse for that – someone needed to die."

"Then why?" she asked, slipping her hand up his chest and around his neck as she molded the front of her body to his. "Did you really do it because she was Tim's son's girlfriend?" She gently kissed the curve of his neck, pulling back so she could see him. "Why, Michel?"

"Because then you walked into that room," he whispered softly. "I did it for you, Kerry."

For a moment she had to close her eyes, protecting herself from the fierce expression on his face, or maybe from the rush of emotions surely present on hers, but then she had to open her eyes to make sure it was real. "I know," she claimed, kissing him forcefully.

"You were so close," he said between kisses, navigating her back onto the couch. "And wearing that evil little outfit. You screwed everything up." He kissed her again, his tongue rough against her lips. His hand slid up her thigh, fingers curling around the band of her underwear. "Do you love me?"

Kerry stared at him for a beat as he paused, waiting for her answer. Her traitorous heart pounded wildly in her chest, and her mouth went dry. "No," she answered hoarsely.

"That doesn't matter to me," he reminded her, pushing himself away. "But I have a feeling it means something to you."

_He's trying to trick you_! Her mind screamed. Kerry sat up, pulling her skirt back down and cleared her throat. "It does," she told him, searching his face for any signs that she had given the wrong answer. His eyes were unfathomable. She wanted to kiss him again, to allow him to seduce her. It was strangely like a death wish, she realized, wanting to allow him to touch her before it was too late. She realized that she had subconsciously known that once this was all over, whether she survived or not, she would never see him again. Why shouldn't she let them go out with a bang, then? God, she thought, it would so gooood. Kerry clasped her hands on her lap, her nails digging into her palms, and stared downwards as a blush crossed her cheeks.

He observed her for a moment before moving away, sitting behind his desk and fiddling with his computer. As he was typing, his fingers moving rapidly over the keyboard, Kerry listened to the taps and tried to calm herself. She thought about this Andrew guy and everything she had just learned. Then, to distract herself, she considered everything at a deeper level. Why was she the target?

"Hey Michel," she asked, her head snapping up the moment she thought of something. "Have you considered that it might not be me he's after?"

He glanced up, one of his eyebrows raised in question. "He admitted that it was."

"But what if it's not? What if he's really playing a game with you?"

Michel stared at her for a beat.

"It kind of fits," she rushed on. "He's either the blindest fool ever, or he knows that you're out to kill him and he's toying with you. He knows we have history, and he sees me as the best strategy."

"I had thought about it," Michel conceded.

"And," Kerry asked, trailing the word off in a question.

"And it's a possibility."

"But one you believe to be the case?"

"Oh. No," he said shortly. "I truly believe it's you he's after. You've intrigued him."

Kerry's nostrils flared. "Let me translate that for you," she responded. "I might be the target, but you know I'm not the ultimate prize. However, if I still believe that my life is in danger, I'm more likely to help you."

"Your life is in danger," he promised. "I wouldn't lie about that, but there is a chance that he wants me to be concerned with your safety more than my own."

"I hate vampire games," Kerry exclaimed vehemently.

Michel sighed. "The world is made up of games," he said wearily. "Even you play them."

Kerry didn't like that assessment, even though she rationally knew it to be the truth. "You're right," she told him. "I know this girl from high school who told her pre-med boyfriend she was pregnant last year, and after they were married she claimed to have lost the child. Everyone was so sympathetic to her and I couldn't understand why no one could see the truth."

"A lot of people don't want to see the truth," he told her, clicking on his mouse. "And then there are people who would rather see the worst than live safely with their heads buried in the sand."

"You're talking about me, aren't you?"

"It usually takes years for someone to develop the kind of cynicism you have towards the world. You seem so proud of your ability to see through people, as though it's a gift, and here you are drowning in all these manipulations."

"I don't think—"

"So you're allowed to psychoanalyze me, but I'm not allowed to make a few observations about you?" he asked, settling back in his swivel chair with his arms clasped loosely across his stomach. "That fits. You see, Kerry, you see what you think is truth with everyone around you, and you have a remarkable ability to be right most of the time so that you take for granted that all your assessments are true, but when it comes to yourself you're one of the blindest people I've met in a long time."

"What do you mean?" she asked sharply. "Give me an example."

Michel smiled. "That would make it too easy for you." He stood, stretching slightly. "It's time."

"Time?" Kerry asked, scrambling to her feet.

"The club is going to close in about half an hour. _Andrew_ likes to sit in the empty club after closing. I think this would be the perfect time to approach him."

"It sounds too obvious," Kerry told him, "like he's setting up a time for us."

"Of course he is. But he expects us to notice that and judge it as a trap, so that's why we're going with the obvious."

"But," Kerry argued. "What if he thinks we'll decide that since he's setting up a time, we'll assume he doesn't expect for us to go for it, and therefore knows that we will?" She paused, "I think I'm getting a headache."

"Look, just let me take care of the planning, ok?"

Kerry wanted to argue, but finally nodded.

It only would have taken Michel a few minutes to outline his plan, but she interrupted him with questions so frequently that it took them almost the full half an hour. Kerry was starting to see why he decided to prepare her so early. When he finished, she could do nothing but stare at him with a horrified expression on her face.

"That won't work," she told him. "It's too… I don't know."

"Only phase one happens tonight. We'll worry about the rest of it tomorrow."

Kerry shook her head. "I don't think I can do that."

"Kerry," Michel said sharply. "Calm down. Panicking won't help."

"Calm down," she asked incredulously. "You want me to walk right up to someone trying to kill me and lie to him. Never mind that this guy is a vampire with supersensitive senses and will be able to hear even the slightest hitch in my heartbeat and smell the nervous sweat dripping down my back."

"You're being melodramatic."

"I'm being rational," Kerry shot back. "I'm not some secret agent or anything who has been trained in stuff like this."

Michel put his hand on her shoulder, giving the most comfort he ever really did without brining the intimacy of sex into things. Kerry moved closer to him, putting her head on his chest as she twined her arms around his back. He held her awkwardly, as though it had been a long time since he had done anything quite so chaste. "I'm scared," she muttered against the soft cloth of his shirt.

"Hmmm," he hummed in agreement.

"Not only for me," she told him, listening to the slow, steady beat of his dead heart. "I'm scared for you."

"I'll survive," Michel assured her. "It's what I do best." Tentatively, his hand touched her hair, his fingers stroking down the back of her skull before he forced himself to stop.

"Michel?" she asked softly. "If you're worried you can stay with me today. I'll stay home from school and make sure no one comes into the apartment."

He stiffened against her, and Kerry could feel his surprise, then he placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "Thanks," he told her, and she could hear the amusement in his voice, "but I have somewhere safe to stay the day."

Kerry pulled back with regret, feeling surprisingly comforted even though she had to initiate the contact. When did she start to feel safe with Michel? Around the time he saved her life days ago? Or had it started long before that? "I guess I should go," she said finally.

©RelenaFanel.April2.2008

I've been updating this story for 2 years now. 22 chapters later, and you'll be pleased to hear that it's starting to wind down. Watch for the final 2-3 chapters in the next month or so.

I'll soon be introducing a new CotN story. It's called _Dreams_, so keep an eye out for it starting the first of May (or sooner). If you want something new to read IMMEDIATELY, check out _Carnival _(CotN), my Spring Break submission for Murking Fantasy on LiveJournal. Links are in my profile, but it should be posted on this site soon (so long as I remember).


	23. Chapter 23

**Club Vampyr**

**Chapter 23**

_A/N - This is the final chapter. There is an epilogue, which is already finished, but I might decide to rewrite it. It doesn't really convey the strong emotions I wanted it to. Thank you to everyone who have read and supported this story from the beginning, as well as those of you who picked it up with every new update. It took me years to finish it, as you might be aware, as I started it in the Spring of 2005. _

_I will be releasing a new CotN story called **Dreams** within the next month. A short summary can be found in my profile._

* * *

"Hello?" Kerry called out, walking through the deserted back rooms to Club Vampyr. The area was dark, the door to each room open so that the entire place was a corridor of glass walls with the impression of no privacy between each. It felt like the opening of a horror movie, with each empty room yawning before and after her, the contents fully visible to the eye. The cushions and comfortable furniture in each station were lumps and shadows, making Kerry nervous about what may or may not be hidden in plain sight. She could tell just by the slight variations of each space that no two rooms were exactly the same, but that only made her nervousness more palpable. If someone was there, waiting, she wouldn't be able to see the attack coming until it was right on top of her.

Not that she really expected to be attacked just yet; the real danger lied through the next set of doors directly in front of her. "Is anyone here?" she called out again. "I'm lost."

This was stupid, Kerry thought, taking a fortifying breath as she pushed into the main room of the club. "Hello? Michael?" she said, shielding her eyes with a hand against the onslaught of bright overhead lights. The large dance floor and bar didn't look quite as classically gothic while lit up as it did with full ambiance. The onyx floor was already beginning to scuff, and she could see the fake bulbs of the candles. It was just a room. "This is stupid," she muttered to herself, turning back around to exit through the door she was still holding open with her free hand.

"Hold on there," a voice called out from the interior of the club. Kerry jumped, audibly gasping and turning back around in what seemed like slow-motion with a frightened look on her face. Her fear wasn't all acting, and for a moment she felt like she was back in the bad horror movie and the evil vampire had just caught her. The unfortunate thing was, that scenario was reality and not something in front of any cameras besides the security ones Michel was monitoring. As Kerry's heartbeat pounded her fright, a man stepped out from one of the booths in the middle of the room, smiling harmlessly with his hands held by his side, palms facing her. "If you're looking for Michael, it might be best if you let him find you. I'm a friend of his, and I know he wouldn't want you wandering around on your own. Why don't you sit down and I'll get you something to drink?"

"I don't know," Kerry said uncertainly. "I am kind of thirsty," she said, following Michel's boss across the club as he headed for the bar. "But he said we have to leave soon, and then we got separated, and THEN I got lost, so I'm not really sure he'll be happy to see me sitting around having a drink." Kerry hesitated as though wondering if she should say something. "He'd like to be home by sunup, you see."

"Ah," Andrew said sagely. "I do understand that." He dug around behind the bar, bringing out stored bottles of liquor. "We have tequila, rum, vodka, ouzo, and almost every cocktail mixture you can think of." He pointed, shaking his finger at her as if trying to remember something about her character. "I think I know what you want. I'll get it while you tell the friendly bartender why if Michel's so concerned, then why did he allow you out of his sight?"

"Is this your way of asking how I got lost," Kerry asked with a laugh at herself, gratefully accepting the Pepsi he handed to her. She was incredibly unnerved that out of all the sodas kept behind the bar, he chose the one she would have picked for herself. It made the fact he was stalking her seem that much more real. "I don't have the greatest sense of direction, but I guess he didn't notice because he told me he had something to do and asked me to meet him in the garage."

"And you ended up here?" Andrew asked, watching her closely as she took a drink of the pop.

"Mmmm," Kerry agreed as she swallowed. "That's good, thank you. I followed what I thought to be familiar landmarks in the hallways, but I guess they were familiar because they ended up here and not because they led to the garage. It's kind of amazing that I turned up somewhere I recognized, actually. Those hallways are like one large, multifloored maze."

"Humans always get lost at first."

Kerry had to tighten her grasp on the glass to keep from following through with the 'humans? So you're a vampire?' trail of conversation. To ask questions like that was so ingrained into her personality, that to not take the lead was an exercise in resistance. _You're a natural,_ Michel had told her that one night years ago when they had fooled the well meaning cop. Over time, those words had become a source of shame as she thought that deceit was most definitely a trait inherited from her mother, and yet every once and a while the idea brought a wave of accomplishment to her each time she lied and did it well. This was not like any of those times. She was frightened, and just the fact that she knew he was aware of how scared she was seemed to elevate her fear. It was a self perpetuating cycle.

She smiled politely in response to his answer, taking another drink. "If you could direct me towards the garage, I'll do my best to make it there this time." Kerry gave him her most charming and vacant look, trying to impress the idea that she wasn't too intelligent on her companion.

"I'll take you there. I doubt you'd be able to find it on your own."

"You must have a hero complex," Kerry joked, referring to the fact he had saved her about twelve hours earlier. She then paused, frozen in her tracks. Andrew looked at her in slow motion and Kerry's heart betrayed her. She mentally cursed herself, realizing that everything that happened after this was all her fault. Apparently she didn't have to pretend to be a total incompetent idiot. She was one. Get in and get out, Michel had told her, and as Andrew's eyes narrowed in suspicion, Kerry realized that would be impossible.

He grabbed her arm in a motion which was quicker than the human eye, fingers bruising through the black leather jacket Michel had loaned her so she could convincingly act like someone trying to leave the building. Kerry winced, trying to pull herself from his grasp. She had never realized how gentle Michel had always been with her, even in the grips of fury. When Michel grabbed her arm, it never burned as though his strong fingers were biting through flesh and severing the limb. Kerry looked into the face of her captor, her stomach going cold at the compassionless fury over his features. Andrew flung her sideways against the bar and her back smacked sharply into the artistic ridge along the top. Kerry stumbled into one of the stools, grabbing it for support so she wouldn't fall to the floor. "So, you know," he said coldly, standing before her and stopping her escape.

"Know what?" Kerry asked, attempting to play dumb. Thudthudthud went her heart, escalating as she lied.

"You're a horrible liar," he told her, giving voice to her thoughts. He didn't move towards her, and yet she had never felt more threatened in her life. "Did you tell him?"

"Tell who what?" she questioned frantically, her fingers digging into the top of the bar to hide her nerves. Her elbows were locked behind her and chest sticking out, though she didn't consciously mean the position as a possible distraction. Not that her breasts would distract someone bent on killing her anyway, though she liked to think that if she tried the trick on Michel, it would work. She lost her nerve for playing ignorant, and continued, "Michael that I saw you during the day? No. How could I when I didn't know I wasn't supposed to?"

"You seem like a smart girl," he told her. "I don't understand why you insist on lying to me."

Kerry was horrified by the parallels to what Michel had said to her earlier. "I'm not." Kerry insisted, yelping as he kicked a stool at her leg, advancing rapidly so he barreled bodily into her and grabbed her hair, forcing her backwards across the bar so she was bent at an awkward and submissive angle as he hovered over her. Kerry thought she might throw up, her heart was beating so rapidly. She couldn't understand why he didn't believe her. There was nothing wrong with the logistics of the lie.

"Does he know I have the ring?" Andrew hissed, his breath tepid against her skin.

"No. No! I don't know," she begged as he pulled her head all the way back, her skull flush against the bar top and her back screaming as it bent at a painful angle. Kerry panted against the pain and terror.

"Good," he told her, suddenly releasing her and stepping back so Kerry fumbled for purchase for a second before sliding to the floor. "That's interesting," he mused, turning slightly away from her and facing the back door. "I almost expected him to come running in here like a white knight."

Kerry grimaced, curling up into a protective ball on the floor. "You're overestimating him," she said quietly. "He doesn't care about anything but himself."

Andrew feigned shock. "But I thought you loved him," he mocked.

"Yeah, well I learned very quickly that I also hate him," she responded. "Look, I won't tell him about your daylight adventures. I probably will never see him again anyway."

"Why?" Andrew asked shrewdly. "Because he's sending you away to 'protect' you from me? I must tell you, I expected him to throw you to the wolves on that one."

"No," Kerry said with bravado, even as she lost confidence. How did he know about Michel sending her out of the country? "Because he was only dating me to get information out of me and I mistook it for actual emotions."

Andrew laughed as though she had said something incredibly amusing. "Emotions? Michael?"

Kerry smiled bitterly. "Exactly what I found out. Keep that bastard away from me, and I'll completely forget about the ring."

Andrew laughed again. "That will be easy, my dear," he told her, grabbing her throat and lifting her up to her feet and then a few inches beyond. Kerry struggled against him, but her attempts at kicking were futile. He was cutting off her oxygen. "All problems will be gone once you're dead."

As Kerry struggled to breathe, her fingernails raked bloody gouges over Andrew's hand. She realized Michel was going to get his death in the club after all. It would look even better for his cause if the murderer was the owner himself. He was probably getting this all on tape as she had the life strangled out of her.

He betrayed her, she realized, about to pass out. Her sight went splotchy, and black began to edge into dominance as a loud crack echoed through the club and drops of warm liquid sprayed across her face. Andrew let go of her, and she managed to regain her footing, leaning heavily against a stool as she watched and tried to breath. Nothing more than the smallest puffs of air wanted to move into her lungs, and she could feel the burn of asphyxiation down to her toes..

"It seems I was mistaken about you," Andrew sneered, moving away from Kerry to reveal Michel standing in the center of the club with a gun pointed at them. Andrew's hand was clutching his bloody shoulder, and Kerry realized that Michel had not taken a killing shot because it risked hitting her.

Kerry tumbled to her knees, almost passing out as she gasped to catch her breath. She crawled away from Andrew as quietly as she could, still unable to really breathe. He let her go without outwardly noticing, but Kerry had no misconceptions about his ability to grab her again within seconds. She choked down air, her throat rebelling in agony at the abuse.

"You ok, Kerry?" Michel asked, not taking his eyes or gun off his boss.

Kerry nodded once, unable to speak, and the motion sent her neck into agony.

"Did you really believe I wouldn't back her up?" Michel taunted, circling around towards her with easy, slow steps. "I'm surprised you didn't figure it out. I'm the one Kerry's been protecting."

With that, the power rushed out of Kerry's body so quickly she pitched forward to the floor, coughing and gasping at the sudden nausea from the sensation of having her soul ripped through her abused throat. The sensation was one of great, gasping loss and violation, and she whimpered and curled into a ball. The coldness of the floor didn't register, and she could barely look at Michel to see if the restoration of powers had any effect on him.

Michel still stood, looking the same at yet strangely different. He appeared taller, more confident, but what really alarmed Kerry was how Andrew now reacted. Gone was the sneer and the cocky grin, leaving a look that probably equated to the vampire equivalent of a scared little boy.

"So that's what you've been planning. They sent you to kill me," Andrew mused, looking defeated, and Kerry had a moment of clarity where she wondered if she was on the right side. She hadn't questioned it, seeing her relation to Michel as enough basis for loyalty. Michel was, after all, fighting against innovation and progress. Her sympathy was cut short by Andrew making one last ditch effort at surviving by lunging at her, moving so Kerry blocked Michel's aim with the gun.

Michel tackled Andrew mid-air, both of them tumbling over the bar with a sharp crash of breaking bottles. The smell of alcohol permeated the air, sweet, sticky, and sickening.

Kerry stumbled to her feet, listening to the sound of fighting, slightly surprised that when it came right down to it vampires fought the same as human males. She had almost expected a showdown of mental prowess, like something off of Queen of the Damned instead of DragonBall Z.

Pinpricks of heat stung sharply on her face, and Kerry smacked at her skin, attempting to get the burning sensation off. She stared in confusion as her fingers scalded, the last of Andrew's blood boiling away. Kerry looked frantically around for windows or opened doors, not finding any. "Michel!" She warned, her voice croaking as she tried to raise it. She looked up, finding the window on the ceiling, the still dark sky beyond falsified by the tinted glass. "Skylight!"

With a hiss the entire bar combusted into a roar of flames. Kerry reeled backwards in shock and then frantically tried to push forward to get to Michel, but the fire was incredibly hot and she was just human. The flames were an impenetrable sheet before her. "Michel!" she screamed, though no sound emerged from her lips. Her hand came up to cover her lips in a moment of panic, where she simply looked into the fire and saw his death. Oh God, she realized, she'd never stop the flames and get him to safety on time.

Kerry raced towards the door to the back rooms, remembering seeing a fire extinguisher hanging behind the door. She burst through at a run, knocking bodily into Nathaniel.

"Oh good," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her further down the hall. "Michael made it sound like it would be more difficult to rescue you."

Kerry shook her head, tears streaming down her face from the smoke and terror. She wretched her wrist away from Nathaniel and scurried into a corner of the hallway, wrestling with the bolted extinguisher. It didn't want to come off the wall, no matter how hard she pulled or shook it. Her attempts were frantic and violent, causing Nathaniel to frown in confusion as he watched her, thinking she was looking for a weapon.

"What's on fir—" Nathaniel started to ask, breaking off with realization and opening the door to the club in order to look. Heat and smoke poured through the opening, and hetook a step back with horror in his eyes. "It's too late," he told Kerry gently, trying to pry her away from the fire extinguisher. She hit him ferociously, turning to dash back into the club. "Kerry!" he yelled, trying a different tactic as he lunged after her. "The whole thing is on fire! He's gone."

He pulled on her again and she followed this time, his words leaving a stunned, hollow expression on her face. The sprinklers went off suddenly, soaking them both through and making the floor slippery to run on. Nathaniel pressed on, his fingers firmly around her wrist. Kerry stumbled after him, not seeing where they were going. Her hair was dripping into her eyes, but all she saw was the sudden whoosh of flames as the bar caught fire. All she could see was the blood on her fingers boiling and leaving angry red marks from the heat. She didn't notice the feel of the cold water against the burned flesh of her cheek or the way her breath couldn't quite get through her crushed throat.

By the time Nathaniel burst through an emergency exit behind the club, smoke was already thick on the air and fire trucks were surrounding the building.

The sun was gaining ground in the sky as Kerry lifted her wet, tearstained face and stared at the traitorous daylight. She was impervious to the cold: the only thing she could feel was the sensation of fire still against her flesh, and she thought of what it would be like to go back and be consumed by it like he was. Her eyes dried and she felt numb, not hearing the wail of fire trucks as they quickly responded to the scene.

It was too late.

She didn't notice Nathaniel buckling her into the car and starting the now-familiar drive home. She blinked back into reality for a moment with a flare of hope, finding herself in a car seat and Nathaniel behind the wheel. "I couldn't get close to the bar to look," she whispered, her voice not able to speak anything louder. "Maybe he wasn't there. Maybe the alcohol was ignited by a drop of blood."

Kerry missed the pitying look Nathaniel shot her.

"Maybe he," her voice broke and she abandoned her attempt to speak. She realized the futility of hoping he had made it out alive, but she couldn't stop herself.

"You should be in bed," Nathaniel suggested, helping her out of the car.

"Yo! Yo! Holdup! You're Kerry, ain't ya?" A wheezing man with glasses and a hunched back asked, dragging a messenger bag off his shoulder. A more succinct term for him would be nerd. "Yeah Yeah. I was told to give this to ya. You're late." He shoved a package into her hands. "I ain't never seen that boy willing to part with so much dosh. Especially for a normal girl like you."

"Normal?" she echoed hollowly.

"Yeah. A daywalker. Ya know. He must really love ya, like die for ya love ya. I gotta write some Buffy fanfiction about this shit."

"You do that," Nathaniel said coldly, navigating Kerry towards the front door of the apartment building. He was surprised to find her expression hadn't changed, even at the comment that Michel loved her, and the badly phrased choice of words. Her hands were clasped tightly over the parcel and she was physically shaking. He didn't think it was from the cold. "Kerry?"

She didn't speak as Nathaniel led her into the building and back up to her apartment. He used his own key to let them in, guiding her towards the couch. Nathaniel helped Kerry off with her high heels, and tried to remove her leather jacket as well, but she smacked his hand away and pulled it tightly around her despite the fact it was damp with water from the sprinklers. "Do you want to go to bed?" he asked kindly, allowing her to keep the jacket on.

Kerry snapped out of her stupor for a moment. "What?" she croaked with her ruined voice.

"Do you want to go to bed?"

Kerry shook her head.

"Ok. I'll be next door."

She nodded, but he wasn't sure she heard him. Nathaniel's heart broke for her, but he was certain that once she managed to get over the shock, she'd be better.

Kerry didn't hear him close the door as he left. She stared at the envelope, turning it over and over in her hands. Finally, she opened the seal and dumped the contents on her lap.

Carefully, Kerry picked up the small card and stared at the horrible driver's license picture she was so familiar with. Her eyes gazed at the name on her new identification, and she dropped it as if burned.

Carolyn Bryne, she thought hysterically, grabbing her arms with the opposite hand and digging into the delicate flesh with her fingers. She couldn't feel the physical sting over the pain in her heart and mind. Tears trailed down her cheeks and she furiously pushed the papers off her lap.

Kerry wept great, wracking sobs, her whole body shaking. "Michel," she whispered. "No. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. No. Nonono." She hyperventilated, unable to breathe in her panic, and then howled in anguish, her voice rising as she bawled. Her throat resisted, then something broke and her screams became silent.

Nathaniel found her hours later still sitting on the couch, utterly broken.

©RelenaFanel.April26.2008


	24. Epilogue

**Club Vampyr**

_Epilogue_

* * *

"Dad?" Nathaniel asked the answering machine, the phone clutched so tightly in his hand the plastic creaked. "If you're there pick up. I was just wondering if you knew whether Michael survived the fire yesterday. I know it's a long-shot, but Kerry's…" he hesitated. "Well, she's not doing so well. I'm worried."

Nathaniel hung up and walked back into Kerry's bedroom. It was pitch dark and had been since he arrived in mid-afternoon, wondering why he hadn't heard any signs of life yet that day. The day before her sobs had broke his heart, but at least then he knew she was alive.

He had to check for a pulse when he found her still in bed, unmoving. He had been scared to touch her throat, the bruising on it deep, angry purple and swollen. She hadn't even flinched, though he was able to detect the steady rhythm of her heart. Even now she was comatose against the world, her eyes wide open and barely blinking. He thought that she was somewhere else, and he hoped it was a better place.

But only if she didn't stay there.

Kerry was wrapped in the leather jacket she had worn out of the club. Nathaniel sat beside her, watching carefully for signs of life, and wondering what more he could do for her. In a twisted way, he hoped that someday someone loved him with such devotion. It was another day before he thought to try to force some water down her throat. Her lips were taking on a distinctly parched look and he was horrified to realize that though he had seen her go to the bathroom once on her own, he had completely taken for granted that she was taking care of the other necessities for life.

It was another two days before she opened her eyes and really saw him, and only then it was because he had tried to remove Michel's jacket.

x.x.x

Kerry stared at the gun in her hand, alone in her dark room. One shot and it would all be over, like a twisted Juliet story.

x.x.x.

"Thank God you're back!"Nathaniel exclaimed, pulling Nelle into a relieved hug. "She's been completely despondent since he died. I haven't been able to get her out of bed for the past week. She wouldn't even have showered if I hadn't told her she'd start replacing his scent with hers on the jacket."

Nelle looked puzzled.

Nathaniel sighed, exasperated. "I don't have time to explain. He loaned her a jacket and she keeps it wound tightly around her body. She isn't eating, all she does is sleep, and I can't get her to go see a doctor."

"A doctor?" Nelle echoed.

"I think that bastard did some permanent damage when he strangled her and all her crying didn't help the matter. She hasn't spoken a word since the morning Michael died. You need to go comfort her, or slap her, or whatever it is you best friends do for each other."

His explanation only seemed to make Nelle more confused. "I don't understand why she's acting this way. I mean Michael was a great guy and all, but he's my sire, and even I didn't have an emotional breakdown when he died and Kerry's a million times more stronger than me. She only knew him for a few days,"

Nathaniel pursed his lips in distaste for having to break the news to Nelle – again. The messenger was always the one who was shot. "She's known him significantly longer than that. Michael was Ethan Bryne, and he was the one who kidnapped her."

"What!" Nelle exclaimed. "All that time she pretended that vampires didn't exist and—"

"Shut up and think about someone other than yourself for once!" Nathaniel barked, ignoring the dark look she shot him. "Or, actually, let's continue living in Nelle's world for a second. Do you think he would have changed you if you weren't her best friend and if she hadn't started to beg? I don't think he would have, so why don't you return the favour and make sure Kerry doesn't die of grief."

.xXx.

A few moments later, Kerry opened her eyes to see Nelle sitting in the chair next to her bed, a thoughtful expression on her face. The desk light was on and Kerry blinked against the brightness. She had shrouded herself in the dark since – that time – keeping her window covered, the lights off, and had found solace in the absence of the traitorous sun.

"Hey Kerry," Nelle said brightly.

Kerry closed her eyes, hoping to go back to the state where all this was blocked out. She couldn't deal with life anymore, but she wasn't strong enough to die yet.

"Let's talk about Michael."

Kerry opened her eyes.

"He was always kind to me," Nelle continued, "even though I didn't appreciate it at the time. He looked out for me, you know, like he would a little sister or a daughter or whatever our relationship was."

For the first time in days, Kerry gave her full attention to something other than heartache. Her eyes stayed open, despite the light, and she raised her head on her pillow in order to see Nelle as she spoke.

"The night he brought me back from the dead he said he was repaying a life debt to an old friend. That was you, wasn't it?"

Kerry nodded, a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Nelle asked gently. Kerry shook her head, and Nelle continued talking, realizing that her strategy was working. "He was very attractive, wasn't he? When he was trying to teach me the ropes of vampirism, I got all confused by the pheromones and the smell of sex from the club and tried to seduce him."

Kerry sat up, a slight frown across her brow, and it was the first emotion she had felt in days that wasn't related to her grief.

"Do you know what he said to me?" Nelle asked, hiding a smile. "He told me I was pretty, but not his type."

"I can't feel him anymore," Kerry whispered, her voice dry and cracked. She bundled her fist in the leather of his jacket and held it close to her stomach. "He's gone completely. What if I killed him?" Her dull eyes focused on Nelle's face and Nelle could see that beyond the grief was guilt and self-loathing.

"You couldn't save him. Once a vampire catches fire from the sun, it's all over. Not even a fire extinguisher could have put out the flames."

Kerry shook her head. "You don't understand," she croaked. "I loved him. I loved him so much and I kept lying to him. To myself. I don't know. He gave me so many opportunities to say something, and I kept—" Kerry's face contorted into a sob, but no tears came.

"Oh Kerry," Nelle said softly. "I'm sure he knew. It's difficult to keep things like that from us."

Kerry shook her head again. "You still don't get it. I didn't tell him. What if when he took the power back he also got my emotions and he reacted the way he did because—" Kerry covered her mouth with her hand, desperately looking to Nelle for comfort or reproof. What if her love for him had transferred along with his essence, so that he protected her with his life because of a false emotion? What if for an instant, he had thought she was worth his death only because she had loved him?

"You're right," Nelle told her, "I don't understand at all. Now stop being an idiot and get out of bed and come watch Knocked Up with Nathaniel and me."

"He died for me," Kerry said in a tiny voice, lying back down and pulling the jacket to her face. "And I can't live without him."

"You can't die for him either!" Nelle said sharply, reaching under the bed and grabbing the shoebox which held Michel's gun. She left coated with impatience and frustration, but Kerry didn't care. She hadn't been able to use the weapon on herself no matter how much she stared at it and wished she was strong enough to pull the trigger.

Darkness consumed her after Nelle left, and Kerry didn't notice the passage of time.

On the two week anniversary from the day Michel had returned to her life, Kerry finally rolled out of bed on her own. It was the day after Black Friday and it suddenly struck her that she was wasting her life. If this had been the future Michel wanted for her, he would have let her die that night. Kerry had a final cry, lamenting her own foolishness, and wandered into the kitchen in search for food. Nathaniel had been forcing soup down her throat for days, but now she wanted something far more substantial. She opened the fridge and located the deli meat, throwing together a sandwich. In the living room, she squinted against the harsh reality of the sun, the natural light hot and burning against her face. Suddenly furious, she stood and tried to close her curtains, but they were too sheer to block the daylight.

The next thing Kerry knew was she was pounding on Nathaniel's front door. He opened it, his forest green and Christmas red hair sticking out all over the place like a demented wreath. At first, he looked disgruntled at being woken up, but then smiled in relief once he realized who was at his door. It didn't matter that Kerry's hair was greasy and tangled so badly it felt in limp tufts down her back, nor did the sun-deprived paleness of her skin or dark rings beneath her eyes detract from his joy of seeing her. Kerry finally back with the living was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

"I need blinds," she told him, pushing past him and staring at his windows with aversion. "Heavy ones."

"Fine," he placated her, too pleased that she had gotten out of bed on her own to be concerned with her growing obsession with window coverings. "Just let me take a shower – say half an hour?" He didn't really need one, but he wanted to give her time to clean herself up. The knots in her hair would take at least that long to condition and comb out.

Forty-five minutes later as they got into the car he had borrowed from his father, Nathaniel refrained from commenting on Kerry's wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, but he did glance at the leather jacket she was wearing with obvious distaste.

"You're crazy," he said fondly.

That Monday, Kerry went to class to take her not-so-pop quiz. She still moved as though she couldn't quite see the world around her, but slowly she came back to life. She stayed in the dark as much as possible, keeping her skin completely covered against the sun's rays. It became easier for her as the temperature dropped and Christmas approached, since everyone started to wear gloves, scarves, and heavy coats. She still insisted on wearing Michel's leather jacket, though she had to start layering fleece beneath it to keep warm, but she stopped wearing it to bed. Instead, it stayed draped over the chair in her room where she could keep an eye on it.

Sometimes, she spoke to it and told it how difficult it was to exist without him.

The gun remained where she had hidden it beneath her bed, stolen back from Nelle. She needed it because it had once been his.

Three weeks after Michel died, Kerry allowed Nathaniel to convince her to leave the apartment for fun. They went to the movies, picking a romantic comedy that Nathaniel seemed to enjoy immensely. Kerry wanted to leave, the romance too much for her and the comedy not that funny, but she managed to stick it out.

Nathaniel told her he was glad she was "finally frigging moving on" and she didn't say anything to dissuade him. It wasn't completely untrue, even if she didn't feel like she moving on at all. She was just coping better.

But if anyone deserved to believe the lie it was Nathaniel. He was the one who had taken care of her like one would a sick child, making sure she didn't starve to death in a bed of her own filth. Only, he hadn't believed the lie, if the conversation she overheard Nathaniel having with his father was any indication:

"She's not doing better. At least before she was numb with grief, but now she's going through the motions and fooling people around her into believing she's okay. But she's not experiencing anything. I'm not sure she even feels the pain anymore."

Kerry wasn't sure either.

In her mad dash to get to her final exam about a month after Michel's death, she forgot to wear her wide-brimmed hat and didn't notice the sun warming her face until her walk back home. She panicked for a moment, feeling the burning of blood on her skin in that second before her world went up in flames, but then the sensation passed and she just felt the cool breeze of crisp air and the warmth of sunshine.

It healed her a bit.

Kerry still cried herself to sleep some nights.

The day she was heading home for the Christmas holidays, she rolled out of bed early, unable to sleep with the dreams of impossible happiness swirling in her head. She saw him sometimes when she slept, which made slumbering a tantalizing lure in those first days. Lately, she couldn't deal with always waking up with disappointment that he wasn't even _there_. She barely even went to bed anymore, but that only meant she had studied for her finals with a greater intensity than usual.

If Michel's death was good for anything, it was getting A's on her exams.

She went to the bathroom, and then wandered into the kitchen for breakfast. She was still shockingly thin from her week of starvation and the following month of picking at food, and she knew that her father would notice. Kerry had never told him what was going on with her, and even in the midst of her grief she had still managed to call Ian and pretend for five minutes. She wasn't looking forward to keeping the charade up for days, even if it was getting easier to smile and pretend it reached her eyes.

As she bypassed the living room on her search for food she frowned and diverted her path, staring at the opened blinds with confusion.

"It was a little gloomy in here," Michel said, holding out his hand for her to join him. She could see the glint of gold on one of his fingers, and stared, frozen on spot. Large, wet trails of tears fell down her face, gathering at the collar of her night shirt. He was beautiful, sitting on the couch with the sun glinting blue highlights in his dark hair.

He had a slight scruff of beard.

"Oh," Kerry whispered, placing her hand over her mouth to stop a sob from emerging from her lips. She would never have imagined that, and in that instant she knew it wasn't a dream. Despite the tears she was smiling.

"You weren't supposed to mourn for me," he told her, standing and moving towards her. Kerry fell into his arms.

"I love you," she said frantically, pulling him against her and holding tight as if he would disappear.

"I know."

©RelenaFanel.June5.2008

Complete.


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